Opposition parties condemn govt for increasing power tariff
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ISLAMABAD: The opposition parties have strongly condemned the government’s decision to increase electricity tariff and termed it a result of the “economic mismanagement” of the present rulers.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator and former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani in a statement here on Thursday said that the increase of 140 per cent in prices of gas and now a raise in the power tariff had been necessitated to qualify for an economic bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which had last month told the government to take tough decisions.
“The abnormal increase in electricity tariff by the government is condemned in the strongest terms,” he said, adding that this price hike had had a snowball effect and the prices of vegetables, pulses and roti (bread) had already gone sky high and almost out of the reach of the working class.
With CNG prices touching Rs100, he said, the fares of buses and rickshaws had also registered an increase.
“It is feared that in its pursuit of making the IMF happy, the government will resort to massive privatisation of national assets and retrenchment of labour. Both these steps will be opposed both inside and outside parliament by the PPP,” he declared.
Mr Rabbani has also moved two adjournment motions in the Senate. The first motion pertains to the statement of the US secretary of state wherein he had said that the US expected Pakistan to curb terrorists fighting in Afghanistan and it would be held accountable if it failed to do so.
The second adjournment motion pertains to the statement of Prime Minister Imran Khan that Pakistan would play the role of a mediator in the Yemeni conflict and in the Middle East.
In a separate statement, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb regretted that the government had announced the decision to increase power tariff soon after the return of PM Khan from Saudi Arabia after getting a bailout package.
She said everybody was thinking that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government would announce reversal of its decisions which led to price hike in the country, but to the contrary, the government announced the decision to increase the price of electricity.
She was of the view that no one else but PM Khan himself was responsible for the economic mess and hardship being faced by the people and the country for the last two months.
“When the PM announces himself that the country is at the brink of default and going to bankrupt soon, the investors will definitely run away from the country,” she said in an apparent reference to Mr Khan’s speech at the investors’ conference in Saudi Arabia.
Ms Aurangzeb said that in 2014 the Saudi government had provided $1.5 billion to Pakistan as declared gift on the basis of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s credibility and trust.
She said that Imran Khan had created doubts about the economic viability of the country as the rulers lacked economic vision, prudent policies and direction.
Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2018
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