28 July 2004	Wednesday	10 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

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ISLAMABAD July 27: The government on Tuesday came under fire on the issue of increase in gas prices as the Opposition criticized the raise and described it as a mini-budget.

The government informed the National Assembly that the recent increase in gas prices was due to its linkage with the price of crude petroleum products and it had nothing to do with the budget and therefore was not what the opposition described as mini-budget.

Speaking on a call-attention notice of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal's Liaqat Baloch, federal Minister for Petroleum Noraiz Shakoor asserted that five per cent increase in the gas price was not a burden on consumers.

He said the government was paying the difference of petroleum products whose prices had been capped for the last two months and this would continue as long as international fuel market remaiuned unstable.

Earlier, the issue was agitated by a large number of members both from Treasury and opposition who alleged that the finance minister had promised that there would be no mini budget but the increase in gas prices had contradicted Mr Aziz's claim.

They said the government was doing everything to maximise its revenues and increase in the price of gas, a household necessity, was an example of this practice. They alleged that Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and National Electricity Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had been set up on the dictation of the IMF and the World Bank.

Responding to queries of Laeeq Khan, Abdus Sattar Afghani and Liaqat Baloch, Minister for Kashmir Affairs Dr Ghazi Gulab Jamal said the government was paying Rs14.5 billion subsidy to fertiliser manufacturers. He said the increase in the gas price was done on the recommendation of Ogra and on demand of the gas companies.

HOUSE COMMITTEE: At one stage the house witnessed a rumpus when Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain refused to allow PPP's Sherry Rehman to point out the delay in the constitution of a house committee on foreign affairs.

All members belonging to the ARD and other parties stood up in unison to demand that the speaker allow the lawmaker to put forth her point of view. The speaker first refused to yeild to the pressure but when calm returned to the house the speaker allowed the PPP member to speak on a point of order.

The speaker took serious notice of the absence of ministers and parliamentary secretaries from the house and asked the government to convey his message to Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to ensure all ministers' presence in the house unless it was utmost necessary.

ICJ VERDICT PRAISED: The house, through another resolution, praised the verdict of International Court of Justice rejecting the fencing wall in Ghaza, its subsequent endorsement by an overwhelming majority of UN General Assembly, and called upon the European community to put pressure on Israel to dismantle the wall.

Read by Qazi Hussain Ahmed the resolution was drafted and signed unanimously by Mian Riaz Peerzada, Naveed Qamar, Aitzaz Ahsan and others. Earlier, giving a policy statement in response to Opposition's onslaught, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri rejected the allegation that Pakistan was taking dictation from the US or any other country in the formulation of its foreign policy.

"As a sovereign nation we set our own foreign policy which is open to debate in parliament," the foreign minister said. He gave the example of Wana where the government had launched a two-pronged strategy. "On the one hand the government has pursued political means through jirga system, on the other it has resorted to military means to restore normalcy in the area," the foreign minister said.

He said the success of Pakistan's foreign policy could be gauged by the fact that a record number of foreign ministers from foreign countries had visited Pakistan during the last one year.

He said Pakistan's entry into Asean, Commonwealth, improvement of Pakistan's relations with Russia and ongoing dialogue with India were some of the examples of success of the foreign policy of the country.

Mr Kasuri said the issue of terrorism was not a new one as it had first been raised by China before it had been taken up by the US administration with Pakistan. Leader of the Opposition Maulana Fazlur Rahman lashed out at the government's foreign policy and termed it against interests of Muslim Ummah and Pakistan. He said the country did not have an independent foreign policy and it had been tailored to suit US interests.