Talking to the media immediately after a briefing from the National Power Control Centre, PM Raja said that overcoming the energy crisis was the top priority of his government and his team was working hard to rid the nation of the menace of loadshedding. He hoped the problem would be resolved at the earliest.

The meeting was informed that while eliminating the loadshedding would not be possible any time soon, unscheduled outages could be done away within a fortnight. The prime minister impressed upon the top officials of the ministry to ensure that loadshedding must be carried out in accordance to the formula that was agreed upon at the energy conference held in Lahore two months back.

The prime minister was candid in his media talks and said he had assured the nation on the floor of the National Assembly immediately after assuming office that overcoming the energy crisis would be his first priority and likewise he and his cabinet were making all-out efforts in this regard.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf offered an olive branch to the opposition, saying there could be no better way forward but to have a broad understanding about the national issues and applying collective wisdom for their resolution. He said he was keen to take along all political forces and stakeholders to make united efforts to resolve the problems being faced by the country.

PM Raja said he had invited the opposition to come and help his government resolve the different issues the country was facing, adding he hoped that he would get a positive response. He said he had seen advertisements in the national press saying a particular province was being discriminated against in terms of loadshedding. “Let me assure them that everyone will be treated equally and will get the electricity proportionate to their rights,” the PM added.

He said his government was facing multiple challenges but assured the masses that they will leave no stone unturned to resolve them. Minister for Water and Power Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, while talking to the media, said that if Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had played any role against his (Mukhtar’s) selection as the prime minister, then he had played havoc with the people of Gujrat because if he had become the PM, he would have done a lot for his city.

When asked if he would sacrifice his seat for the Chaudhrys under any seat adjustment mechanism between the PPP and PML-Q, Mukhtar replied that he will never sacrifice his seat, as he was the winning candidate from that constituency and would contest from the same constituency again.