Govt under fire in Senate over soaring POL prices

ISLAMABAD:

Opposition parties in the Senate have rejected the federal budget, saying the incumbent government has caused a storm of inflation upon coming into power.

The opposition slammed the government over soaring fuel prices that were raised twice within a week.

Speaking on the floor of the house, former finance minister Shaukat Tareen said the country witnessed growth in gross domestic product (GDP) despite the Covid pandemic in his government's tenure.

"The stock exchange index was at 46,450 but now it tanked to 41,200," the former finance minister said.

He said the litre price of petrol was Rs149 when they left but the price had jumped to Rs209. He warned that fuel prices would increase and touch Rs300 in the coming months.

Tareen said inflation was likely to jump to 25 to 30 per cent in the country. "The GDP growth was six per cent in our times, but now the government says they will take it to five per cent," the PTI senator said.

The inflation rate was 11.3 per cent and presently it was 24 per cent which the new government claimed would be brought down to11.5 per cent, Tareen said, adding that controlling inflation would be a big challenge.

Shahzad Waseem, the opposition leader in Senate, said prices in neighbouring India were coming down while in Pakistan they were daily going up. "Why is not the government concluding an agreement with Russia for cheaper oil?"

He said people were questioning where those who marched against inflation disappeared to. "We immediately demand the withdrawal of tax notices to citizens as inflation has jumped to 30 percent," the opposition leader said.

Senator Waseem called on the government to issue a diplomatic passport to the wife of Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik jailed on terrorism charges in India.

PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz slammed the government for the present economic crisis in the country, saying PTI had created 1.8 million jobs and increased power generation capacity.

He said general elections should be called immediately to allow the poorest segment to survive in the economic crunch. The Senate session was adjourned till today (Thursday).Home Horizontal 1, Home Pakistan, Pakistan (National Page)

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Ministers’ absence mars NA budget sessionRizwan GhilzaiIslamabad. Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khurshid Shah on Wednesday lashed out at his fellow ministers for their absence from the National Assembly (NA) and demanded of the speaker to adjourn the sitting till the quorum was met, threatening to point out the quorum if his demand was not met.

Addressing the budget session of the lower house, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader said, “Look at the condition of this house today, there is no cabinet minister here.”

"We are never ready to tell the truth to the people," he remarked.

“I also told the prime minister that you should come here, what is the fault of the members who come to come and sit down and go home after two hours in disgrace when no session takes place,” he added.

“The government runs the parliament, we have always talked about the parliament, we are going downhill, but we are not ready to honor this house even today,” Khurshid said.

"We are very credible in our area that we are parliamentarians, why do you not come here," he asked those who were absent from the house.

He said that if this is the way it is, then others too will not come to this house either. “Why should we sit in the empty house and give speeches? Who are we telling this to?” he asked.

The water resources minister asked about the whereabouts of the finance minister. “It is his responsibility to be here, the parliament has been made a joke,” he added.

He asked the speaker to adjourn the sitting until the members are there, threatening to point out the quorum otherwise.

Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the points raised by Khurshid need to be considered by the entire house.

“This session is very important; the budget is under discussion here; it is the responsibility of the government benches to meet the quorum,” he added. “The opposition also has a responsibility; I adjourn the meeting for 30 minutes.”

Speaking during the discussion on the budget for the financial year 2022-23, Engineer Sabir Hussain Qaim Khani of Muttahida Qaumi Movement -Pakistan (MQM-P), said that the opposition should definitely sit in the house.

“We have to continue our austerity drive, there seems to be no route for the members of parliament, we are the representatives of the people, and that is why we are standing in the assembly and talking,” he said. “We go to the constituencies and solve the problems of the people.”

"Why not develop the urban areas of Hyderabad?" he asked. “Infrastructure was destroyed there, who will improve it?”

He pointed out that no adequate funds have been set aside for Hyderabad University. Rs17 billion has been given to the IT Ministry, and it should provide the said funds, he added.

He further said that ports and shipping is an important ministry, and asked why are funds not provided for it.

PPP’s Mustafa Mahmood said that governments come up with a deficit budget every time.

“The government should take things seriously, today the dollar has crossed 200,” he said, adding that the previous government had done some good things as well.

He talked about the plantation drive for 10 billion trees, and the improvement in fuel quality during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) term.

“They started Euro 5 in big cities, it should be started in the entire country,” he remarked.

Pointing out that most electric cars in the world are sold in Norway, he said that there are many benefits to using electric vehicles, adding that the pollution problem will be solved.

He suggested that every government building should be using solar power.

The good things of the PTI government must be taken even further, he further said.

Mahmood asked why Ali Wazir's production order was not being issued.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Noorul Hassan Tanveer said that four years were wasted, and for four years the government treated them badly, even ignoring them.

“Bahawalnagar is the highest cotton-producing district, we should provide facilities for it,” he suggested.

Commenting on load-shedding, he said that the declared duration is four hours, but unannounced load-shedding persists as well.

He further said that at present, Bahawalnagar has a population of around three million.

“A university campus has been built there, a university campus should be given for Fort Abbas; we should be given a connection with the motorway,” he remarked.