NA session: Omar Ayub asks the wrong question

Opposition gets rare support from one treasury lawmaker on fuel price hike

ISLAMABAD: Saturday’s session of the National Assembly witnessed several moments that could easily be categorised as unusual but the most awkward came when the Federal Minister for Power, Petroleum and Natural Resources Omar Ayub asked parliamentarians: “Whose government was in 2014?”

“Yours,” the opposition replied loudly.

However, without any hesitation, the minister continued to repeat his question – twice. “Mr Speaker check the record and see who was in power in 2014?” He then directed the same question towards Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar.

And the opposition’s reply was the same, again. At this, Omar sheepishly replied that PML-N was in power back then but insisted that he was not a member of the cabinet.

During his political career, Omar has remained affiliated with several parties; he was with PML-Q from 2002 to 2012; he joined PML-N in 2012 and later joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 2018.

Omar had risen to respond to a trenchant criticism from the opposition benches, who lambasted the government on several issues, especially, the Friday’s massive hike in the price of petroleum products. Ironically, the opposition’s fuel cause got a rare support from one treasury lawmaker.

Raja Riaz, a PTI lawmaker from Faisalabad, blasted the own party’s government over the exponential increase in the POL prices. Riaz, who was a central leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) until 2016, before joining the PTI, started speaking, when he was asked to maintain social distancing or go to lobby if he wanted to continue discussion with other lawmakers.

“The prices are raised by Rs25 within a night … give us the development funds … what is our fault; hang us because we are not able to go to our constituencies,” Riaz continued shouting without caring that his microphone was off. His outburst lasted for a minute or so and ended amid desk-thumping.

Before Riaz, PML-N’s lawmaker Rana Sanaullah – also from Faisalabad – termed the hike in fuel prices “the biggest robbery of the history”. He said: “This government doesn’t commit any robbery that is less than billion rupees. Their standard is not below than that.”

Mounting a scathing attack on the government’s performance, he continued, saying that billions of rupees were looted by flour, wheat, sugar and medicine mafias but the government’s complete focus was only on the opposition. “No reduction is seen in the prices.”

While admitting the treasury benches’ argument that NAB chairman was appointed by the previous government, Sanaullah said “it was correct but who made and showed the video of NAB chairman”. He himself replied: “You,” while referring to the treasury benches.

On PIA pilots’ fake licences issue, he said that the government claimed that recruitments happened during the tenure of previous government the just to smear the PML-N and the PPP’s name in the issue. “It was the funeral of the PIA,” he said. “Who would want to travel through PIA?”

PPP’s Abdul Qadir Patel questioned why there was no word on the issue of Sohail Ayaz, a convicted paedophile in the United Kingdom with a known history of child sexual abuse and distribution of child pornography, who had returned to Pakistan after deportation and got a job with K-P government.

PML-N’s Khurram Dastgir reiterated his words from previous speech that “this is a government of the mafia, by the mafia and for the mafia.” Referring to the fuel price hike, he said: “Last night, the mafia won once again. The government is becoming a facilitator of the mafia.”

While touching upon the issue of school fee during pandemic, PPP’s Shazia Marri questioned that “Prime Minister Imran Khan should tell the house how many times he has paid the fee of his children.”