Pakistan, June 30 -- Sindh Assembly's longest-ever budget debate revealed that political rhetoric overshadowed fiscal discussion, with lawmakers spending nearly 1,600 of the total 2,519 minutes on political point-scoring, praise for party leadership and criticism of opponents, while detailed discussion on the budget, taxation, development schemes and fiscal proposals remained under four hours.

The provincial budget was presented on June 17, while the general debate began on June 19. A total of 143 lawmakers participated in the debate for 41 hours and 59 minutes. Of the Pakistan Peoples Party's 116 members, 98 spoke during the debate, while 36 of the 37 MQM-P lawmakers, all eight PTI-backed and independent members, and the lone Jamaat-e-I...