KARACHI, Oct 1: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s MNAs Mohammad Hussain Mehanti, Abdul Sattar Afghani and Laeeq Ahmad have condemned the government for not reducing the petroleum prices despite a sharp decline in the international market.

In their joint statement issued here on Sunday, the legislators pointed out that petroleum prices in the international market had dropped by $17 per barrel, and deplored that the government of Pakistan appeared not ready to let its benefit trickle down to the country’s poor masses.

“On the one hand, the government is not prepared to compromise on its lavish expenses and luxuries as more than 70 people were accompanying Gen Pervez Musharraf in his foreign visit for publicity and on the other, the heavy expenditure of this adventure is ultimately borne by the poor people, who are already crushed due to the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities and the growing unemployment.

Meanwhile MMA MPAs, Nasrullah Khan Shaji, Hameedullah Khan and Yunus Barai have also slammed the government for heightening inflation, citing a recent survey report that has suggested up to 87 per cent rise in the prices of food items and beverages over the past few weeks.

They said this trend had exposed the provincial and city governments’ claim of having kept a strict check on price spiral.

They also alleged that the price control magistrates of the city government had been selected from among the pro-MQM people who would act upon the party’s instructions and penalise only those traders and shopkeepers who did not subscribe the ideology of the MQM.