PPP being kept out of budget process

LAHORE - Punjab Minister for Finance, Tanvir Ashraf Kaira had a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday and complained about the PPP being kept out of the budget making process.
According to the sources, the Finance Minister, who belongs to PPP, met Shahbaz Sharif and formally took up the issue with the latter, telling him that he, as Finance Minister, was being kept in dark about new budgetary proposals regarding different departments.
Kaira in his meeting with Punjab CM cited two important meetings held recently to fix priorities for the upcoming Punjab budget, to which he was not invited. Punjab CM had himself chaired these meetings.
The Chief Minister reportedly assured Kaira that he would be invited in the upcoming meetings, but to his utter surprise, he was even not informed about Wednesdays meeting, which took place after his meeting with the CM. The CM himself chaired this meeting.
An official handout issued regarding the meeting also confirmed that Finance Minister was not part of that meeting.
According to sources close to Tanvir Ashraf Kaira, the Minister learnt about Wednesdays meeting from sources other than his own department.
'Its strange that Finance Minister is not even aware of important meetings of his own department what to talk of attending them, commented the source. The PPP sources have confirmed that Tanvir Ashraf Kaira had so far been kept out of at least three such meetings including the one held on Wednesday.
It merits mentioning here that while PPP is still waiting for implementation of 40:60 power sharing formula in Punjab, it would be more worrying for its leadership that its Ministers have not been fully empowered even in respect of departments headed by them.