Why should petroleum minister quit?

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif doesn’t need any opposition to make his government weak and unpopular, as some of his handpicked ministers have done the job “well”, which even his rival like Imran Khan could not do in four months.
The Punjab wheel has almost jammed, thanks to the mysterious “oil crisis”. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Petroleum, has reasons in his defense, but there are good enough reasons to believe why he should have stepped down by now or if not should have been sacked.
Let Sharif brothers go in private cars and search for petrol, ask people what they think about them and how they could address this issue. This crisis is certainly not because of Imran Khan.
(1) Are the deserted roads of the Punjab, including the hearts of Sharifs — Lahore and Rawalpindi — not enough reason to sack the minister and order a high-powered enquiry into the real cause behind the crisis.
(2) Why his ministry could not foresee the expected crisis and that too of such a serious nature, which may now take at least 10 to 15 days to be over.
(3) If the report that secretary petroleum and other senior officials had informed the minister about the possible crisis, why the prime minister was kept in dark. If the officials were not even aware of it, they should not only be suspended, but also sacked after an independent probe.
(4) The minister should resign because all this has happened under his “nose” and he was not aware of it. If he was aware and did not do anything, not even alerted the people, he should be sent home.
(5) He should quit or be sacked because this crisis may not end here, but it will soon result into a major energy crisis.
(6) On the political front, this crisis has once again put the government back to square one, after it has somewhat recovered from the “dharna crisis.”
(7) The Ministry of Petroleum has given real boost to the opposition’s upcoming movement, after gas load shedding and electricity crisis had already put Sharif on the defensive.
(8) If for not any other reason, the minister for petroleum could have saved his PM from real embarrassment if he had accepted the moral responsibility and tendered his resignation, which should have been accepted. The move could have defused the situation.
(9) The prime minister has already been alerted that due to the current crisis he must do everything to keep bigger plants alive as warned by a senior official, that if they go down, the entire system could collapse, as Guddu power plant as already been closed.
(10) Why till last week, the country was not even aware of the upcoming crisis and government was looking very confident.
Now, the prime minister has called a high-powered meeting on the “oil crisis” today and has also cancelled all his other engagements, which also means his visit to Karachi. Sharif, who is in Saudi Arab for few days, will be taking some major decisions in this regard. The question is what measures will be taken and how soon the crisis will be over?
It is also time for the prime minister to review the performance of his other ministers. It’s high time that some heads must roll, which are bringing shame and embarrassment to the PML-N government.
This is the third PML government, but the first in whose tenure a sense of deprivation is building up in the Punjab for the first time. The province is worst affected because of CNG crisis, oil crisis, gas crisis and political crisis.
However, one of the reasons why Sharif is reluctant to take action against his minister’s poor performance was the pressure, particularly of his brother Shahbaz Sharif.
Mian Shahbaz Sharif could have set a good example had he resigned after the Model Town, tragedy in which many people were killed and injured. The incident followed by Multan and Faisalabad killing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf workers further deepened the crisis for the younger Sharif.
But, the present oil crisis has become the mother of all crises under Sharif’s third government. The impact of this crisis will also come in the near future when the summer will start and experts have already predicted massive load shedding.
Therefore, what the prime minister, needs to realise is that his own cabinet is not doing enough to address these issues and is providing a strong base for the opposition to capitalize on the government weaknesses.
Imran Khan, who has already unnerved Sharifs, can take advantage of the situation and it can become a fit launching pad for another movement by the PTI. The opposition within Parliament is also gearing up and may not provide much relief to the PML-N if the oil crisis is not over soon.
All these crises can also affect the National Action Plan against terrorism, which the army would not like to see and that too so soon.
Thus, the government needs to take some bold steps even if it means sacking/replacing of few ministers and top bureaucrats. Secondly, Sharif must resolve the PTI crisis and give go ahead for formation of a judicial commission and make all efforts to bring the PTI back to Parliament. Thirdly, the government must engage its coalition partner JUI-F and address its grievances. Fourthly, it’s time that the PM and PML-N involved the MQM in addressing issues of urban Sindh as they already have a better understanding with the PPP.
Wheel-Jam in the Punjab and that too because of a minister demands an apology from the government to the people of Punjab. This is the least they can do.
Crisis after crisis, some created by the opposition and others by the government ministers have maddened the government, making it quite unpopular in its strong constituency, the Punjab.