- Brings regulatory authorities under respective ministries
By Ahmad Ahmadani
Without making necessary amendments in the rules, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) government has surprisingly ended the sovereignty of five regulatory bodies and put them under the control of their respective ministries. A memorandum was issued to this effect here on Tuesday.
A copy of memorandum issued by Cabinet Division on 19 December, 2016, available with this scribe, reads, “Necessary amendments in the Rules of Business 1973 will be made accordingly.”
The memorandum further disclosed that federal government has transferred the administrative control of five regulatory authorities from Cabinet Division to their respective divisions.
According to Cabinet Division’s memorandum, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has been transferred under the administrative control of Water & Power Division; Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) under the control of Petroleum and Natural Resources Division; Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) and Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) under Information Technology Division; Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPA) under the administrative control of Finance Division.
Sources aware of the development said that an end to the sovereignty of regulatory authorities without getting approval from provinces was in violation of the constitution. They said although the provinces had opposed the government’s idea to bring regulatory authorities under the control of their respective ministries/divisions, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave his approval on the repeated requests of petroleum and power ministries.
“A regulatory authority can work under the administrative control of Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination as per the constitution,” sources said, adding, “The authorities will now be bound to obey the government’s orders following an end to their sovereignty.”
The sources also informed that legal departments of NEPRA, OGRA and PTA had opposed the government’s plan and declared the move as unconstitutional. They also said that the World Bank (WB) had opposed the move and said it could stop its loan programme in case the government brought the regulators under the control of ministries.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has rejected the decision in a statement.
“PPP rejects this authoritarian decision of the federal government and demands to withdraw it immediately. Independence of regulatory bodies cannot be jeopardised,” said a statement issued by PPP Senator Saleem Mandviwalla.
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla said that the federal government has lost all reason to call it a democratic government. It has set examples of dictatorship and authoritative rule in the country. Senator Saleem Mandviwalla said that PML-N has become habitual of ruining democracy in the country. The government does not believe in the supremacy of parliament and democracy, and keeps challenging it by its decisions.
The Senator said that regulatory bodies have been made ineffective, adding that the government should close down these regulatory bodies rather than making them toothless.
“The PML-N government does not want to protect the poor people of Pakistan but it wants to rule them through dictatorship,” Senator Mandviwalla added.
It is worth mentioning here that the government has focused on concentrating powers in few hands. Earlier, the PM obtained necessary authority to remove managing director/chief executive officer of a public listed company, especially after the introduction of Companies Ordinance 2016 in the country. The premier was able to do so by inserting additional clauses in the Companies Ordinance 2016.
The federal government also gave more powers to Federal Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar to appoint board of directors in all the organisations that come under the administrative control of Ministry of Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatisation.