Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday rejected the government’s decision of placing the regulatory authorities under the administrative control of the ministries.
Condemning the government’s arbitrary decision, he said that the authorities were being placed under the very ministries they are meant to regulate.
The PTI chairman said that the move is a clear reflection of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s disregard for accountability and transparency.
The prime minister transferred the administrative control of five key regulatory bodies to the respective ministries on Monday, compromising their relative independence under the cabinet division.
The notification issued by the cabinet division said the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) had been given under the control of the Water and Power division, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) under the Petroleum and Natural Resources division, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) under the Information Technology and Telecom division and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) under the finance division.
The opposition said that such a ‘brazen move’ is meant to undermine any form of transparency, and accountability of the government ministries is unacceptable in a functional and meaningful democracy.