MQM walks out of NA session

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Tuesday walked out of the National Assembly to protest against the recent hike in petroleum prices.

The MQM members staged the walkout to register their protest and said that the price hike is an unjustifiable injustice to people, while adding that this measure will cause problems for the government.

Updated from print edition (below)

Govt slammed for hike in POL prices

The government on Monday drew heavy flak in the Senate from both opposition groups and allies over the latest revision in petroleum prices, with members pleading for its immediate withdrawal.

Coalition parties in the government – Awami National Party (ANP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) also traded allegations against each other as the new session of the upper house kicked off.

Reacting sharply to a significant increase in petroleum prices, opposition parties staged a walkout to register their protest. Jamaat-i-Islami’s Professor Khurshid Ahmed was the first to raise the issue through a point of order and was seconded by Waseem Sajjad, leader of the opposition. They were of the view that the recent hike in petroleum prices will have an impact across the board and would further increase the unabated inflation.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal’s (JUI-F) Senator Ismail Buledi also joined opposition members in staging a token walkout from the House, declaring that the coalition partners should write to the prime minister saying they would not let the smooth proceedings of the House unless the decision was not taken back.

Strongly criticising the decision, MQM’s senator Babar Khan Ghauri, who is also the minister for ports and shipping, termed the decision deplorable saying that no coalition partner was taken into confidence before the decision was enforced. “Such unpopular decisions are also defaming us — the coalition partners,” he said, adding that the hike in POL prices should immediately be withdrawn. “Being a coalition partner, we were not taken on board before the decision was made,” he added.

ANP Senator Ilyas Bilour also came forward with a similar statement, saying that his party was also not taken into confidence prior to the increase in petroleum prices. He blamed bureaucracy for toying with the government, saying that such kinds of decisions were discrediting the performance of the government. Another ANP Senator Haji Adeel said that the opposition should guide the government, and also sought the chair to discuss the issue pertaining to the increase in POL prices.

While responding to the concerns of the members, leader of the house, Nayyar Hussain Bokhari said that the decision had been taken by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), which is an independent body. He also invited the opposition to debate the matter inside the house.

PPP Senator Safdar Abbasi cautioned the government against such moves because they can create more difficulties for it.

The senator said that he had identified such unpopular decisions many a time, both at the party’s meetings and the floor of the house. He added that there was nobody to take care of the country’s economy. “You have borrowed Rs250 billion from the State Bank of Pakistan and nobody is there to tell us about any developments on the $11.8 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” he added.

PML-N Senator Syed Zafar Ali Shah was of the view that some “hidden forces” were either challenging the authority of the government or supremacy of parliament due to such decisions.

Due to the thin presence of members on the first day, the Senate chairman adjourned the house that will meet today (Tuesday) at 10 am. Earlier, during the House Business Advisory Committee with representatives from all the parties in the house, it was decided that the new session would continue till November 12.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2010.