Senators want minister fired over blackout

Opp senators demand making public real facts behind massive outage

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate session on Tuesday witnessed the opposition coming down hard on the treasury benches over the hours-long Saturday night blackout, which plunged the entire country into darkness, calling for the concerned minister to resign.

The opposition benches criticised the government, demanding the real facts of the nationwide power blackout be brought to light. The lights came back on Sunday night gradually, but reportedly in some parts of the country it had not.

The Senate session presided over by Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani discussed the opposition's motion of depriving parliament and provinces of their rights by the government.

Senator Rabbani said, “It seems that parliament is dead. The real facts of the power blackout should come to light and the concerned minister should resign.”

He said the lights went out across the country. “The country is already immersed in dark ages, but it sank even more on Saturday night.

“This shows how much the power sector has failed. The big fish [responsible for the blackout] were released and the junior employees were fired.”

The federal minister did not even deem it necessary to come to the house and speak, he said, adding that “no government committee has been formed on the issue”.

He accused the government of not hearing the matter and stressed that it should be referred to the relevant committee of the Senate.

On London court’s order of debiting money from Pakistani missions over the National Accountability Bureau’s slackness, PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that Rs70 million was paid to Broadsheet LLC from the Pakistani banks in London. “Will anyone question the NAB chairman about this?” he inquired.

Senator Rashid said that Broadsheet went to the London court and stated that it was given the responsibility to search the assets of Pakistani politicians in London when former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf had said during his tenure that the company had failed.

He said that the court had also said that you cannot look at Avenfield apartments as those flats do not belong to Pakistan.

He blamed the government of exacting political revenge on former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and to prove “former president Asif Zardari wrong”.

“The London court is not NAB where people are made to make decisions by watching videos. Billions of rupees were spent on the insanity of Pakistan over the decisions taken for such political revenge.”

On rising inflation, he said that he was ready to go to any city market with government officials. “I will ask the people on state TV cameras that whether the goods are more expensive than in the past? The answer will have to be aired on state TV.”

He asked whether the federation should be termed a snake, which starts eating its children when it is hungry. “If they try to occupy the provinces, there will be resistance from the people, no one will be able to stop them.”

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan rejected the opposition's allegations of usurping the rights of parliament and provinces.

Senator Khan said, “If Sharif has no trust in the Supreme Court and institutions, then file a petition in the Indian Supreme Court.”

Communications Minister Murad Saeed said that they ask NRO in in-camera sessions. “If Sharif was so good then why is he a declared fugitive today?”

The federal minister said that the opposition should read the Constitution first and then talk about the rights of provinces over the islands.

“The No Objection Certificate was issued by the Sindh government,” he said, adding that it was the PPP and the PML-N that were pushing the people into trouble. “Whenever you are questioned, you start talking about different nationalities.”

On the Broadsheet issue, Saeed said, “Broadsheet was offered a bribe for concealing [Sharif’s] assets, but they refused.”

He said that the previous governments had not given anything to (the most deprived and backward province) Balochistan for 40 years.

“It is [Prime Minister] Imran Khan, who, for the first time gave a Rs600 billion South Balochistan package.”

On PML-N and the PPP grouping together against the government, Saeed said that the PML-N accused the PPP government of sending public money out of the country via launches.

“Money was being withdrawn from fake accounts while sitting in the Presidency,” said Saeed, referring to Zardari.

“Nothing like this is happening in Imran Khan's government because there is no collusion here.”

Saeed accused the previous governments of using NAB, the Federal Board of Revenue and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan for corruption. “Alongside ministries, they also took Iqamas in other countries.”

On Senator Rashid defending Sharif, Saeed said, “If Sharif and [former finance minister] Ishaq Dar were such good ministers then why are they fugitives today?

“Today, Sharif, his two sons and Ishaq Dar are fugitives.”

The federal minister hinted that a few faces had come to light as to whose government had sent Israeli delegations and why they had met in a lobby in London.

“Certified incompetents were presented as champions of democracy.”

Other members including Senator Faisal Javed, Krishna Kumari, Mohsin Aziz and Abida Azeem also participated in the discussion.

The Senate session was later adjourned till 10:30am on Friday.