ISLAMABAD – Opposition parties on Monday put the treasury in the dock over the unprecedented increase in the prices of petroleum products . No one from the minority government, including the petroleum minister, could justify the decision as the protesting members chanted slogans against the government.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was not present in the House as he was in Lahore for his meetings with the PML-N and the PML-Q leadership, seeking their support for his falling government.
As members from all opposition parties demanded either the government withdraw the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products or go for a vote in the House, ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan came to the rescue with a suggestion that all parliamentary leaders should meet the prime minister and sort the issue out.
All the parties agreed to the suggestion as PPP’s Khurshid Shah endorsed the proposal and the House was adjourned with consensus. Speaking on a point of order during the question hour, Leader of the Opposition Nisar Ali Khan demanded the government withdraw the notification of the increase in petroleum prices.
“We kept on reminding the government about the people’s miseries and the unrest among the masses on its policies, but it paid no heed to us,” he said, adding that the government made no satisfactory reply to the opposition’s concerns on increase in the POL prices in the past, adding however that “this time the decision shook the foundations of the government”.
Calling the petroleum levy ‘jagga tax’, Nisar said the government had failed to check corruption and stop internal hemorrhage in public sector organisations. He said his party was not ready to believe the government’s “stories about a hike in POL prices due to a hike in POL prices in the international market”.
“Whenever the government shares information on an increase in petrol prices, it distorts facts and figures. I have been the minister for petroleum and know very well that there is around 40-55 percent cushion in the national and international petrol pricing and the government puts this money in its pocket instead of giving relief to the people.”
Nisar said protest demonstrations were being held in the entire country. “You have put the whole system at stake. If you do not care about the opposition, at least listen to the concerns of your coalition partners,” he said. The opposition leader said if the House, being sovereign, could impose taxes, it also had the power to revert them.
Minister for Religious Affairs Khurshid Shah proposed that instead of a two-hour debate on petrol prices on an adjournment motion, the House should debate the issue under Article 259 of the Rules and Procedures of the National Assembly. “The debate should be aired live so that the masses can learn about the factors compelling the government to increase POL prices,” Shah suggested.
MQM’s Haider Abbas Rizvi said the increase in POL prices was the key factor which forced the MQM to take the extreme step of quitting the coalition government. Petroleum Minister Naveed Qamar moved the resolution that the House should debate the petrol price hike under Article 259 by suspending the routine business of the House and the motion was adopted but the PML-N parliamentarians refused to debate the issue and started chanting slogans against the hike.
