LAHORE, July 23: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan regrets the government has once again gone back on its promises of providing relief to the masses by controlling power loadshedding and price hike during Ramazan.

“The government had claimed that power loadshedding and rising prices would be controlled during Ramazan but it failed to do so as loadshedding has returned to haunt the people and the rocketing prices of essential commodities have added to their misery,” Khan said in a statement issued here on Monday.

“In fact, electricity, CNG and petroleum prices have all been raised during the month. The reason for this massive loadshedding is corruption, poor governance and bad planning,” he said, adding, “the people have had to endure the incompetence of the rulers.”

The electricity problem was to some extent self created, said Khan. The circular debt could have been reduced had the present government switched over to coal instead of furnace oil for power generation which it did not, he added.

He said despite paying over Rs1,000 billion in subsidy and raising the electricity tariff to double of what it was a few years back no solutions could be found to the power crisis.

In fact, said Khan, the energy crisis was caused by loot and plunder through rental power scam that involved the sitting prime minister.

He said no plan proposed by this government to overcome energy crisis could be implemented because of corruption.

“Mr Zardari as well as the PML-N leadership have one main purpose and this is not to resolve the problems but to look for business opportunities.”

He warned if the electricity issue remained unresolved the ruling elite should be ready to face the wrath of the people.