ISLAMABAD, May 2: The government on Tuesday stalled an opposition-sought debate in the National Assembly on latest increase in domestic prices of petroleum products and provoked a protest walkout by blocking a private bill seeking job safeguards for government employees.
Opposition members of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) had sought an urgent debate on petroleum prices through two adjournment motions, which were opposed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi on the grounds that the issue could not be raised as a debate was held last month on high prices of essential commodities, including petroleum products.
Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain withheld his ruling on allowing or disallowing a discussion till after hearing arguments of the movers of the motions on an issue that has become a hot topic outside parliament since the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) announced increases in ex-depot prices of petroleum products.
One adjournment motion moved by Raja Pervez Ashraf, secretary-general of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP), and signed also by 15 other members of his party and two of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz called the price increase as the “first phase of a mini-budget before the annual budget”.
It said that while the opposition had protested about the price hike in the last session of the National Assembly, the government “added fuel to the fire by increasing oil prices”.
MMA’s Liaquat Baloch moved another adjournment motion, signed by his alliance members, seeking a similar debate “to stop the government from such an unjustified action”.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement member Kunwar Khalid Yunus also moved an adjournment motion seeking a debate on higher electricity rates in Karachi but its fate also remained undecided.
Mr Afgan said the house rules of procedure barred a debate on the same subject through an adjournment motion so soon after last month’s debate on high prices. But, PML-N parliamentary leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the adjournment motions were seeking a debate on a specific matter of petroleum prices while last month’s debate was about the high prices in general.
While the opposition parties seemed lacking vigour in pursuing the matter after speaker’s promise to hear their arguments on the admissibility of the two adjournment motions, they were furious after their defeat in a bizarre vote about an MMA private members’ bill seeking safeguards for government employees by amending the Removal from Service (Special Powers) Ordinance, 2000 and staged a token protest walkout.
The house was unusually well-attended by both the ruling and opposition members, but the affirmative ‘aye’ shouts rang out much louder than ‘no’ from the government benches when the speaker put Mr Baloch’s motion for leave to move the Removal from Service (Special Powers) (Amendment) Bill.
As opposition members thumped their desk in what they saw a victory, the speaker put cold water on their celebrations by delaying his ruling on the vote, apparently to allow more ruling party members to arrive in the house, and then ordering a second vote.
“I think the ayes...,” the speaker said, hesitating after the first vote but stopped short of completing the usual language of a ruling of the chair in the event of an affirmative vote for a motion: “I think the ayes have it”.
The motion was defeated in the second vote by 65 votes to 85, sparking the opposition walkout to protest against what Mr Baloch called a “cruel attitude of treasury benches about government employees”.
Mr Afgan rejected opposition charges that government employees had been deprived of job safeguards before the opposition returned to the house.
Earlier, the government did not object to another bill moved by MMA member Mian Mohammad Aslam seeking to amend the Islamabad Rent Restriction Ordinance, 2001 and one by ruling PML’s member Ms Mehnaz Rafi seeking an amendment in the Pakistan Penal Code.
Both the bills were referred to the concerned standing committees.
Water and Power Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi assured the house that sufficient water would soon be available to Sindh as the flow had increased in the River Indus with the melting of snow in northern mountains.
He was responding to a call-attention notice from five PPP members who complained of “52 per cent shortage of water in barrages of Sindh during the early Kharif season”.
But the minister put the shortage figure at only nine per cent and said water would be available to Sindh as well as to other provinces in a week or 10 days “as per their indent”.
Water shortages in Sindh also evoked angry remarks from opposition members from the province as they spoke on points of order.
“The situation shows that Sindh is being dried and burned under plan,” PPP member Nawab Yousuf Talpur said and demanded formation of a commission on the issue.
