Barbs fly in Sindh Assembly over gas crisis

Barbs flew in Sindh Assembly on Tuesday as the treasury and opposition benches took up the prevailing gas crisis, with the former censuring the federal government and the latter throwing back criticism at the Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial government.

Leveling criticism at the Centre for the intensifying gas crisis in the country, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah urged the federal government’s allies - the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) - to step away from the federal cabinet and strive for the resolution of problems being faced by Sindh’s people.

“It takes sacrifice to support others. But I know you cannot detach from [Central] government because there is someone else controlling you,” stated Shah addressing the MQM-P and GDA lawmakers.

The federal government has worsened matters for industrialists, claimed Shah. Invoking Article 158 of the Constitution of Pakistan yet again, the CM said, “Gas is available in Sindh. Getting gas supply for industries is the right of industrialists but they don’t receive it.”

The province in which a well-head of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from the well-head, subject to the commitments and obligations as on the commencing day, reads Article 158 of the Constitution. Gas distribution, which has previously been a point of contention as well between the provinces and the Centre, has become more controversial in recent months as gas supply was disrupted in Sindh this year even before the onset of winter.

“The people of Sindh have the first right on the gas produced in the province but the Centre is violating this right,” contended Shah.

Without naming Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Firdous Shamim Naqvi - who resigned from his role as the opposition leader of the house last week - the CM stated that someone seemed to have found some shame.

Shah went on to remind the house of the letter he had written to the premier last month warning that a law and order situation may arise in Karachi, fuelled by the gas crisis. Regretting that the letter was responded to by the federal energy minister even though it was addressed to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Shah informed the hiuse that his government has demanded around 1,600mmcfd gas for Sindh.

Citing Article 158, Shah contended that the Centre’s policies do not align with the Constitution.

PTI’s Naqvi took exception to the CM’s speech and called on Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani contending that he should be permitted to respond as Shah had referred to him in the speech. “If the Speaker believes in democracy, I should be allowed to respond.”

However, Durrani rejected Naqvi’s request stating that it was not about democracy but the rules of the assembly.

This led to an uproar on the opposition aisles with the lawmakers decrying that Naqvi wasn’t permitted to speak.

Addressing the media after the session concluded, Naqvi regretted that “cowardly acts” were done in the assembly once again. “Is this the first time that the country or Sindh is facing a gas crisis? Did it not happen back in Asif Ali Zardari’s government?” asked Naqvi.

The first province to call its rights over gas would be Balochistan, said Naqvi, while maintaining that petroleum products should be the same across the country as everyone has right over gas. Or else, said Naqvi, citizens of Peshawar would say that they have the right over electrical power as they own Tarbela Dam.

PM Imran brought the country out of the crisis wrought by the coronavirus, said Naqvi. But the rulers of Sindh could not even reform the provincial education system in 13 years, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2021.