Khursheed Shah proposes Rs15 cut in power tariff

PPP leader says Nawaz's return in October unlikely due to ill health

ISLAMABAD:

 

Former water resources minister and senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Syed Khurshid Shah suggested on Sunday a reduction of Rs15 per unit in the electricity tariff, rejecting the “notion” that the caretaker government could not cut the power rates.

In a statement, the central PPP leader stated that the previous coalition government could reduce the power tariff by Rs4 per unit but it did not happen. However, he added that a reduction of Rs15 per unit by the caretaker government was possible.

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Shah also expressed his scepticism about Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif's return to Pakistan, saying that his health would not permit him to return. “There is no programme for Nawaz Sharif's return yet. His health is not good, he may not come,” he added.

Referring to a statement of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif earlier that Nawaz would be homeward bound in October, Shah stressed “but I say that his health is not good" and that that the former prime minister "may become unwell at the last minute".