In chorus with cross-country violent protests against prolonged and unscheduled load shedding, lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) raised uproar in the National Assembly on Monday against the current spell of load shedding and the House echoed with slogans of “Go Zardari Go” by the PML-N members.
The strong protest by the PML-N and MQM leaders against what they called “callous ignorance and indifference” by treasury benches towards public issues finally compelled Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to join the session and respond to the points raised by the opposition. The session, which also saw cross talk and sloganeering from both sides of the political divide, was marked by PML-N members’ token walkout against the prolonged outages.
“I have directed the special committee of the cabinet headed by the finance minister to submit its final recommendations on priority basis before the cabinet for overcoming the power crisis so that the recommendations could be implemented with input from the provinces,” the prime minister said, adding that the government was working to address the challenging issue on a permanent basis.
“Let me assure the House that the special committee has worked dozens of hours but the floods might have diverted their attention. However, I have directed the committee to submit its final recommendations so the same could be taken up in consultation with the provinces to resolve the matter on a permanent basis,” he added. Commenting on negative messaging from the United States against the sovereignty of the state of Pakistan, the prime minister said he not only responded by issuing statements but also convened the All-Parties Conference where parties both within and outside parliament sat together and came out with a unanimous resolution.
Responding to allegations raised by PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan about the APC, Gilani said he could have summoned a joint sitting of parliament over the US threats, but he opted to convene the APC so that the participation of political parties, who had boycotted the previous polls, could be ensured in this important matter. “I have asked the Speaker National Assembly to constitute a parliamentary committee at the earliest to oversee implementation of the APC resolution as well as earlier resolutions of the parliament.”
Commenting on the Karachi situation, the prime minister said he himself went to the port city and held meetings with all stakeholders to resolve the issues. The prime minister said the judiciary played a complementary role in improving the situation and the government would respect the Supreme Court’s verdict in the suo motu notice case of the Karachi situation. Earlier, leader of the opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan questioned the whopping 7,500MW power deficit, saying load shedding could be minimised by 50 percent through mere administrative measures.
“Around 4000MW can be added to the system immediately by utilising the installed capacity we have. The independent power producers (IPP) must be paid the debt and supplied with required fuel. If we can pay huge money for foreign trips of the president and the prime minister, why can’t we pay the circular debt. Line losses have increased manifold during the last three-and-a-half years,” he said, calling upon the prime minister to roll some heads in the Ministry of Water and Power to resolve the issue.
Taking part in the debate, MQM parliamentary leader Dr Farooq Sattar said industrial and trade activities had come to a halt due to the power crisis. Sattar said the increase in petroleum prices would raise prices of all items and people would continue to suffer. He said that the government should fulfill its responsibilities and commitments with the people. Khawaja Muhammad Asif of the PML-N said the people were protesting load shedding on roads and streets. He said although the country’s was suffering from energy problem when the current government came into power, the crisis had aggravated during the past three years.
Blaming the PPP-led government of huge corruption in rental power plants (RPPs), Asif alleged that an RPP installed in a ship, Karokata, anchored at Karachi port, was being paid Rs 750 million per month for generating not even a single megawatt of electricity. Responding to the points raised by the opposition, Water and Power Minister Syed Naveed Qamar admitted that power deficit had crossed 7000MW, adding that the unscheduled load shedding would start reducing in the next 24 to 36 hours as the Finance Ministry had paid outstanding amount of Rs 11 billion to Hub Power Company (HUBCO) and Kot Addu Power Company (KAPCO).
