National Assembly: Govt draws flak over PIA, Railways performance
MQM lawmakers demand resignation of defence minister for failing to nurse PIA back to health.
ISLAMABAD:
The National Assembly on Thursday echoed with scathing criticism of public sector institutions, including PIA and Railways, which have continued to bleed the public purse dry.
Two key parliamentarians from MQM demanded the resignation of Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar on his failure to restore the ailing national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), back to health.
The demand came four days after Ahmed Mukhtar offered to tender his resignation if that would improve the situation of PIA — a sector losing over Rs70 million per day.
“Mukhtar should quit since he has completely failed to stop PIA’s mounting losses,” demanded Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Sajid Ahmed.
“It’s you [Mukhtar] who led the national flag carrier towards the brink,” he alleged.
MQM MNA Kishwar Zehra backed her fellow lawmaker and expressed deep concerns over the unfortunate state of the national flag carrier. She also requested the government to start PIA flights on Saturday from Islamabad to Karachi to facilitate passengers.
The government also seemed to implicitly accept criticism of lawmakers on the poor performance of various institutions such as the Pakistan Railways and PIA — sectors in precarious state owing largely to mismanagement and rampant corruption.
Load shedding
Parliamentarians from both the allied and opposition parties continued to criticise Water and Power Minister Naveed Qamar on his announcement that there will be no load shedding in the country from February 7.
“You told a lie on the floor of the house … You are making a fool of the masses,” said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Abid Sher Ali.
“The government has been giving false statements regarding the power outage for four years,” he added, urging the power minister to take solid measures to resolve the issue of excessive electricity bills.
In reply, the water and power minister expressed sorrow over the remarks saying, “It’s a sorry state of affairs for the parliamentarians sitting here.”
He again justified his stance and stated: “The situation, by and large, has come under control across the country.” He assured the house that the issue of excessive electricity bills – particularly issued by the Karachi Electricity Supply Company – was being handled by the Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power on the directions of Senate Chairman Farooq H Naek. Meanwhile, Interior Parliamentary Secretary MNA Ghulam Mujtaba Kharal assured the lower house of parliament that the issue of sectarianism in Mansehra will be taken up with the interior minister.
He was referring to the incident when a man was shot dead and 14 others were injured as two rival sectarian groups clashed in the city, while responding to a point of order raised by MNA Samsam Bokhari and a lawmaker from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam that various foreigners were involved in sectarianism in the area.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2012.
The National Assembly on Thursday echoed with scathing criticism of public sector institutions, including PIA and Railways, which have continued to bleed the public purse dry.
Two key parliamentarians from MQM demanded the resignation of Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar on his failure to restore the ailing national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), back to health.
The demand came four days after Ahmed Mukhtar offered to tender his resignation if that would improve the situation of PIA — a sector losing over Rs70 million per day.
“Mukhtar should quit since he has completely failed to stop PIA’s mounting losses,” demanded Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Sajid Ahmed.
“It’s you [Mukhtar] who led the national flag carrier towards the brink,” he alleged.
MQM MNA Kishwar Zehra backed her fellow lawmaker and expressed deep concerns over the unfortunate state of the national flag carrier. She also requested the government to start PIA flights on Saturday from Islamabad to Karachi to facilitate passengers.
The government also seemed to implicitly accept criticism of lawmakers on the poor performance of various institutions such as the Pakistan Railways and PIA — sectors in precarious state owing largely to mismanagement and rampant corruption.
Load shedding
Parliamentarians from both the allied and opposition parties continued to criticise Water and Power Minister Naveed Qamar on his announcement that there will be no load shedding in the country from February 7.
“You told a lie on the floor of the house … You are making a fool of the masses,” said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Abid Sher Ali.
“The government has been giving false statements regarding the power outage for four years,” he added, urging the power minister to take solid measures to resolve the issue of excessive electricity bills.
In reply, the water and power minister expressed sorrow over the remarks saying, “It’s a sorry state of affairs for the parliamentarians sitting here.”
He again justified his stance and stated: “The situation, by and large, has come under control across the country.” He assured the house that the issue of excessive electricity bills – particularly issued by the Karachi Electricity Supply Company – was being handled by the Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power on the directions of Senate Chairman Farooq H Naek. Meanwhile, Interior Parliamentary Secretary MNA Ghulam Mujtaba Kharal assured the lower house of parliament that the issue of sectarianism in Mansehra will be taken up with the interior minister.
He was referring to the incident when a man was shot dead and 14 others were injured as two rival sectarian groups clashed in the city, while responding to a point of order raised by MNA Samsam Bokhari and a lawmaker from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam that various foreigners were involved in sectarianism in the area.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2012.