LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Punjab President Ejaz Chaudhry has said the PML-N government is bent upon sending the nation back to stone age as transportation and movement of people has become difficult.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, Mr Chaudhry said the masses were paying their bills at filling stations but the government was squandering the money and had compelled the Pakistan State Oil to exhaust its overdraft facilities. “If this situation does not expose the corrupt practices of the PML-N government, then nothing else will,” he observed.

He said the whole nation was suffering but no government functionary was ready to take the responsibility and every one of them was passing the buck on bureaucracy and making some bureaucrats scapegoats.

He said there was no planning but corruption and severe mismanagement in every sector in the country.

PTI Punjab General Secretary Dr Yasmin Rashid said the PML-N government should be ashamed of its incompetence because the whole world was enjoying the cut in petrol prices but there was no petrol in Pakistan. “This artificial shortage implies the dirty tactics of the government and PSO working together to keep pressure on petrol prices and then start selling in black market at a higher price,” she added.

Information Secretary Andleeb Abbas said the current crisis was the worst in terms of “goof-ups” by the PML-N government. “Where the so-called experienced team of prime minister has gone,” she asked.

She said the oil prices had gone down in the international market because of over supply but Pakistan was facing crisis of shortage of petrol. “The nosedive in petrol prices as well as severe shortage of petrol equation shows that the PML-N government doesn’t want to give relief to the poor masses. The government should immediately increase the oil supply or the PTI will use its street power against this injustice by the government,” she warned.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2015

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