ISLAMABAD, Jan 2: The main opposition party and a government ally walked out of the National Assembly’s first sitting of the New Year on Monday in protest over the prevailing gas crisis, to be accused by the government of doublethink by saying one thing in closed-door standing committees and acting differently in the open.

It was the Pakistan Muslim League-N that stormed out of the house first in sympathy with countrywide protests by transporters against new restrictions on the supply to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to them to meet shortages faced by domestic consumers, and the MQM followed, in their first protest walkout after rejoining the ruling coalition for the second time in October, accusing the government of showing little concern over a party call-attention notice about a 14 per cent increase in CNG prices.

“The contest is hard,” the chief whip of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party and Religious Affairs Minister, Khursheed Ahmed Shah, said after the MQM walkout, as he complained of a ‘plan’ being followed to “keep people hot” to agitate against the government.

But both he and Water and Power Minister Naveed Qamar, who spoke earlier, wondered why the opposition should protest over restricting natural gas supplies to CNG stations while its members in relevant standing committees of both the National Assembly and the Senate held the view that CNG was “not a high priority” and instead demands of domestic consumers be met.

But PML-N parliamentary leader Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan and three other party lawmakers would not comment on what their colleagues might have said in the standing committees and lashed out at the government for its alleged failure to manage things, and called for its resignation to allow premature elections.

However, Sardar Mehtab said his party was not keen to “topple your government” though there was nothing wrong in having fresh elections “if you think it is impossible for you to run the government”, but he cited the absence of a policy statement from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as the immediate cause of the walkout.

Signature-seekers

The prime minister remained in the house for most of the question hour but was not there when the protests came after having what looked like an unusual impromptu conference with leaders of three allied parties -- Senior Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi of Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan and MQM deputy parliamentary leader Haider Abbas Rizvi – on another front row of the treasury benches.

Mr Gilani’s move to that row from his desk cut short an objectionable process of members from all sides of the house coming to him to get papers signed despite repeated warning from the chair.

At least twice on Monday, Speaker Fehmida Mirza asked lawmakers not to crowd the prime minister’s desk and particularly addressed a request to PML-N’s Sardar Mehtab by name and generally to unspecified other party leaders to discourage their party members from doing so after one from the PML-N had just handed a paper to Mr Gilani and took position on a nearby seat to get it back after signatures.    But the chair’s reprimand, in which she recalled a decision taken in the house business advisory committee to shun such practices, was heard only in letter, not in spirit.

The will of signature-seekers found another way, previously reserved mostly for members of the treasury benches – capturing vacant ministerial seats on the left side of the prime minister and reaching to him by changing seats turn by turn to get their papers signed.

The speaker raised no more objections and the prime minister continued to oblige members from all parties, until he came over for a chat with the allies when the speaker had left, leaving a PPP veteran, Nawab Mohammad Yusuf Talpur.

The MQM members’ walkout came even after Mr Naveed Qamar acquiesced to their demand that the house first take up their call-attention notice on CNG price increase addressed to Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Dr Asim Hussain before he responded to PML-N criticism.

But the petroleum minister was not present and Mr Khursheed Shah said the parliamentary secretary for the ministry too had gone out of the house for ‘Isha’ prayers.

That gave MQM’s Asif Hasnain the ammunition to accuse the government of being non-serious and led his party members out of the house, ignoring an announcement by Mr Shah that the parliamentary secretary had come back to the house.

But since water and power minister’s efforts failed to bring protesters of both the parties to the house before it was adjourned until 10am on Tuesday, Mr Shah himself responded to the call-attention notice, saying the price increase was not too big, still allowing 40-50 per cent discount to consumers, and that it was meant to reduce the big difference between petroleum and CNG prices as was being done all over the world.

Besides what he called usual gas shortages at this time of winter, he said “some inefficiency” of gas companies – while “gas is there in pipelines” -- was also responsible for the present crisis. He assured the house that gas supply to domestic consumers would Allah-willing improve in a few days as a result of the prime minister’s meetings with parties concerned.