Protest in National Assembly, Senate

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly and Senate on Wednesday echoed with harsh voices against the raise in prices of petroleum products as the government allies also joined the opposition in protest, staging walkout from the two houses of parliament, leaving the petroleum minister to defend the decision with no solid reasons.

The government and its petroleum minister came under fire from the parliamentarians for acting against the recommendations of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) while announcing the increases in the prices of petroleum products.

PML-N member Ahsan Iqbal sought permission from the Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi to move a joint resolution to demand of the government to withdraw the exorbitant increase in the prices but the proceedings of the National Assembly were adjourned till Thursday evening.

Members from PML-N, JUI-F,group have signed the joint resolution. The PML-Q members, however, did not join the token walkout. The resolution would now be moved in the house on Thursday if the prices of petroleum products are not withdrawn.

The opposition parties and MQM separately walked out of the house while ANP member Dr Bushra Gohar also spoke against government’s decision.

Chairman of the National Assembly standing committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources Sardar Talib Nakai also registered his resentment as head of the committee and on behalf of PML. He also protested against statement of the petroleum minister in which he disclosed raise in prices, five days earlier.

Wasim Akhtar of MQM was the first to raise the issue in the National Assembly saying that it was decided to establish a committee comprising members from all the parliamentary parties on this issue. “The committee was not taken into confidence while increasing prices,” he said demanding immediate withdrawal in raise.

He also protested against re-start of target killings saying that the authorities knew as to who were the miscreants, but they were not taken to task. “We walk out of the house against raise in prices of petroleum products and target killings in Karachi,” he said.

Speaking on separate points of order, Ahsan Iqbal and Chaudhry Birjees Tahir of PML-N said the government had buried poor people alive by giving yet another raise in petroleum products.

Ahsan Iqbal said the government’s decision has come as a shock as for the first time, per litre price of diesel had crossed Rs100 mark while petrol also does not seem to lag behind and may well cross the Rs100 mark soon.

He said that Ogra in its recommendations had warned the federal government that increase in prices of petroleum products would skyrocket prices of daily use but the government paid no heed to the advice.

Chaudhry Birjees said that increase in prices of petroleum products and CNG and LPG would bring a new flood of price hike, making life of the poor more miserable.

Professor Khurshid Ahmad of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and PML-N senator Ishaq Dar raised issue of raise in petroleum prices on identical adjournment motions after which members from JI, PML-N, MQM and JUI-F staged walk out from the house.

Responding to adjournment motion, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain has offered that it is for the parliament to withdraw GST or Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) on POL products and gas to bring their prices down.

The Chairman held the motions in order and the House would hold a debate on the matter. He said the members could also suggest alternative financial resources if they want subsidy on these products.

The minister said the decision to raise prices of petroleum products and gas was unfortunate but the situation is not in the hands of the government. He said Pakistan is producing only 70,000 barrels of oil per day as against requirements of 380, 000 barrels saying the country is heavily dependent on import of crude oil and domestic prices have to reflect any change in the international market.

He said the Ogra calculates prices on the basis of change in the world fuel oil prices and rupee-dollar parity. Senator Ishaq Dar, however, said that the government could take administrative decision to decrease GST and PDL on petroleum products to facilitate masses.

Senate chairman gets tough with ministers

ISLAMABAD: Senator Mian Raza Rabbani on Friday raised concern in the Senate over reports of presence of Norwegian intelligence agents in Pakistan. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said it was the job of the ISI and IB to keep an eye on agents of any foreign country.

Raza Rabbani asked the government to explain if it was on reciprocal basis and described the operations of spy agencies from a number of countries in Pakistan unusual. The Norwegian intelligence chief on the floor of her parliament had disclosed the presence of agents of spy agencies of Norway in Pakistan.

Rehman Malik said the ISI and IB were responsible for keeping an eye on foreign spies and both agencies were under the control of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. He said some of the operatives of foreign spy agencies had been arrested in Balochistan, but gave no details. Malik said a special squad had been deployed at Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan on the way leading to Balochistan.

Earlier, Senate Chairman Farooq H Naek expressed dismay over the absence of ministers from the House, saying that a big amount from the national exchequer was spent on holding sessions but the cabinet members did not take interest in the proceedings. He said he would pass strict ruling if the ministers did not turn up in the House within 15 minutes. A few minutes after Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour arrived in the Senate hall to respond to questions included in the Question-Hour.

To a question, the interior minister said the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) had expedited the process for completing new electoral rolls on the directions of the apex court, and had also recruited additional temporary staff for this purpose.

He said a project had been launched for computerisation of the record of police stations. He said initially this project had been launched in 23 districts and later it would be extended to the entire country in phases. He said the project had already been implemented in the federal capital and software had been developed for availability of FIRs both in English and Urdu. Malik said the government was deploying all the necessary tools in coordination with other countries to curb the menace of human trafficking. He said eight human traffickers were arrested in 2011, 1,779 in 2010 and 1,755 in 2009.

The railways minister, while responding to a question, said he was ready to be dragged with rope around his neck if the Railways continued to face losses even after provision of another 400 locomotives.

He said presently 146 out of 496 locomotives were in working condition, adding 20 locomotives had been repaired. The minister said the Finance Ministry had arranged Rs6.1 billion from banks as part of efforts to revamp the Pakistan Railways. The defence minister informed the Senate that new aircraft on lease would be inducted into the fleet of Pakistan International Airlines by the end of February to help improve the efficiency of the national flag carrier.

Ahmad Mukhtar, answering a question, said the availability of new aircraft would help resume flight operations to and from the closed down airports. He said the replacement of aging fleet with new aircraft would also reduce the losses of the national airline. He pointed out that the old aircraft consume more fuel and substantial amount was incurred on their maintenance.

He said there were 26 operational airports in the country while seven had been shutdown on account of insufficient traffic load. He said a proposal to start flights to Kashgar from Islamabad or Skardu was under consideration. To another question, he said there was a proposal under consideration to withdraw the facility of free and concessional domestic and international air tickets for PIA employees.