National Assembly: Govt admits no ‘quick fixes’ to power outages

Naveed Qamar assures opposition situation will improve within 24-36 hours.

ISLAMABAD:

Admitting that there were no “quick fixes”, the government promised on Monday to provide temporary relief in the burgeoning power crisis.

With the opposition in the National Assembly rallying against the current regime’s inability to overcome the ongoing electricity shortage, Water and Power Minister Syed Naveed Qamar was forced to jump in with an assurance. “All I can tell you right now is that the worst will be over within the next 24 to 36 hours,” he told the angry MPs who sought a timeframe from the government.

Although, he was quick to add, “But the problem will still be there … the shortfall that is currently around 7,500 megawatts right now, will come down to a manageable level of 4,000 MW.”

To add weight to their protests, members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) staged a walkout.

Opposition parties, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), forced the government to suspend the regular agenda for the day to discuss the ongoing power crisis, recent hike in petroleum prices and the floods in Sindh.

Opposition parliamentarians called for immediate government action to ease the situation and threatened to join public protests in case of failure.

“We don’t have much time … public anger is overflowing. The government will have to act swiftly and soon,” said PML-N member Khawaja Asif in his fiery speech, where he also proposed suspending the power supply to regions where people don’t pay their bills.

“There is a premium on corruption in this country and there is a discount on honesty,” he ridiculed, pointing to the trend of defaulting on electricity bills in Karachi, parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas.

“The time has come for people to take this system into their own hands. It is failing to deliver,” Asif said, warning that parliament and other democratic institutions were fast losing the support of the masses. MQM parliamentary leader Dr Farooq Sattar said the country had virtually been shut down by the power shortfall and warned of further damage if the government did not act immediately.

He also criticised the recent hike in petroleum prices and asked the government to take back the increase.

Nisar lashes out at the prime minister

Letting go of all inhibitions, Opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan lost his cool after Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani turned down a demand by him to share with the house details of last week’s All Parties Conference (APC).

Prime Minister Gilani maintained that the APC that approved opening dialogue with the Taliban, was in-camera (secret), and hence, he was under obligation not to disclose publicly what had transpired during the meeting.

The explanation from Gilani was all it took for Nisar to lash out, saying, “I don’t understand how a gathering of over 50 political figures can be in-camera.”

“You are the worst kind of democracy, but we will still prefer to support you against undemocratic forces,” he went on.

Nisar also voiced doubt about a promise that Gilani made to the house to implement the resolution of last week’s APC and efforts to find a permanent solution to the power crisis.

“Mr prime minister! Your words are always great but I think it’s time that you translate them into action,” he told Gilani.

Gilani tried to justify by saying he had asked the US to sign a civil nuclear deal with Pakistan back in 2009.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2011.