June 11, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 06, 1429

KARACHI, June 10: The Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition government came under fire in the City Council on the issue of the price hike when treasury members on Tuesday insisted that the house initiate a debate on the burning issue, which has badly affected the life of the common man.

A woman councillor belonging to the treasury benches even demanded that the government resign if it cannot solve the problem.

Eyebrows were raised in the gallery when treasury members blasted the government policies and made sarcastic remarks against it. The Haq Parast panel, which has the majority in the house, represents the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which is a coalition partner of the Sindh government.

In the absence of the opposition members, who had boycotted the session on the issue of union council funds, fiery speeches were made by several treasury members targeting the PPP government for its “failure to control prices,” which, they said, had gone out of the reach of consumers.

The council session, presided over by Convener Nasreen Jalil, after a heated debate adopted a resolution and an amended resolution, urging the government to take back the enhanced prices of petrol and diesel and take effective measures to control the prices of ghee, oil and electricity.

The resolution, which was adopted unanimously in the absence of the opposition, expressed concern over the rise in prices of essential commodities that had badly affected the common man and even government servants.

Through the amended resolution, the council urged the federal government to bring prices of essential commodities within the reach of the common man in the budget and demanded that the decision of enhancing the gas price be taken back.

Earlier, when the house resumed its session, fireworks were witnessed when the leader of the opposition, Saeed Ghani, on a point of order stood up and made some serious submissions on the issue of UC funds.

Making a strong plea in the house that the issue should not be dismissed, Mr Ghani said the issue was very important as development work in several opposition union councils had been suspended.

Mr Ghani’s contention was supported by Ramzan Awan, Qamber Ali Bangash, Dr Ziauddin, Shamim Wasih and other opposition members. However, the opposition move was countered by the treasury members led by Asif Siddiqui, leader of the house, who was joined by Arshad Qureshi.

The convener ruled that the issue had already been discussed in the house and her ruling on the issue was very clear and, therefore, she could not allow further debate on it. Her remarks created pandemonium in the house when all opposition members stood up and shouted deafening slogans such as “restore UC funds,” “it’s all false,” “disband the system,” etc. The convener tried to calm the opposition members, but they did not listen and continued to shout slogans.

Sensing the rumpus, she suspended the proceedings of the house for 10 minutes.

When the house reassembled, the convener, after seeking the opinion of the house members, allowed the house to take up the agenda on price increase.

Opposition walkout

Mr Ghani and other opposition members, who tried to argue on the UC funds issue, protested against the ruling of the convener and staged a walkout and boycotted the remaining session.

Later, when the house took up the issue of price hike, several treasury members initiated the debate and condemned the policies of the present government for “its failure to control inflation, electricity breakdowns and water shortages.”

Some of the treasury members who took part in the debate were those who had never uttered a word in the house for the last three years.

A treasury member remarked that the “restoration of judges” or “go Musharraf, go” was not the solution to the problems being faced by the common man.

Defending the previous government, a treasury member remarked that the situation was not as bad as it was today, saying that “poor people are committing suicides and selling their children for the sake of bread. But the present government, which came to power on the basic slogan of roti, kapra aur makan, had utterly failed to address the issue.”

Some treasury members suggested that the government take immediate steps to control wheat smuggling, raise the number of utility restores, make price control committees effective and create awareness among consumers.

Those who took part in the debate included Abdul Jalil, Mirza Afaq Mirza, Dr Nikhat Shakeel, Waqar Hasan, Ahsan Siddiqui Javed Jadoon and Shahbaz Husain.

Before winding up, the house also adopted two resolutions: one related to the changes in the location of a declared commercial road – Beach Avenue – while another one pertained to changes in record of shopkeepers and other occupants of Gol Market in Nazimabad.

Later, the convener adjourned the session to meet again on June 16.