Vocal critics: PTI, PAT, PML-Q slam govt for failing to end petrol shortage

PTI supporters hold protest demonstrations in city

LAHORE: Opposition parties on Monday strongly criticised the government for failing to resolve the petrol crisis.

Supporters and leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) staged demonstrations at two points in the city.

The first protest was held outside the Lahore Press Club and the second at Lalik Jan Chowk. The protests were led by MPA Saadia Sohail, PTI central joint secretary Shabeer Siyal and Dr Seemi Bokhari.

They protesters demanded the removal of the ministers responsible for the crisis.



The protesters were carrying placards. Some of them had brought a donkey-cart. “What else can we do now? Eventually, we will all have to resort to donkey-carts if there is no fuel,” said Shahid Atif, a protester outside the press club.

Saadia Sohail said that people were being forced to stand in long queues in search of petrol.

At Lalik Jan Chowk, protesters carried placards and chanted slogans ‘Muk gaya tera show; Go Nawaz go’.

PTI Punjab president Ejaz Chaudhry said that it had been more than a week since petrol shortage had started. “Mismanagement by the government is the cause of the crisis. Why did no one at the petroleum and finance ministries realise earlier that oil marketing companies did not have enough stocks. The petroleum minister should resign immediately,” he said.

PTI secretary general Dr Yasmin Rashid said the government had not provided any relief to the people after oil prices dropped in the global market and had instead caused a shortage. “The government has managed the affairs so poorly that there is no justification for not taking action against the petroleum minister. Why has action not been taken against the petroleum minister?” she asked.

Information secretary Andleeb Abbas asked why CNG stations had been opened only in the provincial capital and not in the rest of the province. “The furnace oil reserves in the country are also about to end. The government must immediately address the situation,” she said.

PAT

Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri held the prime minister, the finance minister and petroleum minister responsible for the petrol crisis and demanded their resignation.

In a statement on Monday, he urged the people to take to the streets against the government for failing to deal with the petrol crisis. “At a time when in the rest of the world, prices of petrol have fallen sharply, people are standing in long lines to get petrol in Pakistan, at up to Rs150 per liter. This has been done by leaders who once claimed they would make Pakistan an Asian Tiger,” he said.



“Those who are responsible for petrol shortage must suggest their own punishments. Sacking bureaucrats cannot save the rulers,” he said.

“This shortage has prevented our children from going to schools and colleges, Rescue 1122 and ambulances have come to a standstill and normal life has been paralysed,” he said.

PML-Q

The government’s failure to resolve the petrol crisis even after several days is highly condemnable, said Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) senior central leader and former deputy prime minister, on Monday.

Talking to party leaders and workers at his residence, Elahi said: “People have been running around for a week to get petrol. However, the government has failed to change the situation.”

“This is the government that promised to end load shedding in six months before the general elections. Instead of fulfilling their campaign promise, they have burdened people with another problem: petrol shortage,” he said.

Elahi said that people also faced a severe shortage of gas. “The government has raised the prices of electricity and gas, but the supply remains the same,” he said.

“A bicycle apparently is a common man’s best companion,” he said.

“During the PML-Q’s tenure, the situation was different. Law and order, prices of edibles, electricity and gas supply were in a far better shape then. The present government has ruined the progress achieved by our government in the province. They are only focusing on publicity campaigns,” he said. Elahi also criticised the government for neglecting the education sector. “The government has spent most of its funds on mega publicity projects, like the metro bus project.

They have no funds for government schools and colleges, especially those located in rural areas,” he said. He said that the government’s security guidelines for schools had only been followed by private institutes. “Many government schools and colleges are still without boundary walls, CCTV cameras and armed guards,” he said.

He said that 26,000 educational institutions in the province still lacked boundary walls.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2015.