Opposition MPs protest sharp fuel price hike

ISLAMABAD: Senior leaders of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have called on the government to take back its decision to raise the price of fuel hours after opposition lawmakers excoriated the ruling party over its price hike in the National Assembly.

In a news conference alongside MNAs Khawaja Asif and Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday, PML-N Senior Vice President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the government had failed to manage tax collection as well as the economy. “The government has foisted the burden of its incompetence on the people,” Abbasi added.

The criticism came a day after the government sharply raised the prices of petroleum products, which came into effect on Saturday. The move was unprecedented, as it came four days before July, while notifications to raise prices are typically made at the end of the month.

The decision also came after weeks of acute petroleum shortages across the country, raising eyebrows after the government vowed strict action against POL companies for allegedly hoarding supply when global oil prices were low.

The move was characterised by the PML-N as the government’s “surrendering” to the “petrol stocking mafia”. “We have filed our case in the people’s court,” said Abbasi, who was also the petroleum minister in the PML-N government. He added: “The failures of the government have increased today.”

Khawaja Asif then spoke. He said: “If the price of petroleum goes up today, the price of electricity also goes up tomorrow. The storm of inflation will not stop here.”

He then criticised the Prime Minister and asked him to step down. “Imran Khan and Pakistan cannot go together. If Imran Khan continues to pursue these policies, the country will reach a point of no return ... If he has the courage, Imran Khan should resign and PTI should choose a new leader,” he said.

“The government did not wait for June 30 and increased the prices petroleum products,” Asif added. The lawmaker said the PML-N will work out a joint strategy with all opposition parties.

When Ahsan Iqbal spoke, he said a sudden increase of Rs25 in the price of petroleum will decimate domestic budgets as well as the country’s economy. “The government increased petrol prices through the back door,” Iqbal added.

Raising the price of fuel will make everything more expensive, Iqbal said, adding: “The government has given a jackpot of billions of rupees to the oil stocking mafia in a single night. You have seen the game with the flour and sugar mafia... billions of rupees are being looted from the pockets of ordinary people.”

“We demand the government to immediately reverse the increase in petrol prices,” Iqbal added and also asked the Premier to resign in a cricket euphemism. “Imran Khan, it is time for you to retire hurt and leave the crease.”

Earlier in the National Assembly, PML-N lawmaker Khurram Dastgir said in the history of the country, petrol prices were never increased by 34 per cent, Geo News reported. “The government is becoming a facilitator of mafias,” he said, added that he could sense that the government benches were in a state of “fear”.

Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Abdul Qadir Patel said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) should investigate who hoarded petroleum reserves, which exacerbated the national fuel crisis. “The FIA should investigate who is behind this mafia and who is getting a cut out of it,” he said.

After coming under intense criticism by the opposition, the Minister for Power and Petroleum, Omar Ayub Khan, insisted that the price increase mirrored global trends and that fuel was still cheaper in Pakistan than in South Asia. “Petrol prices in Pakistan are still the lowest in the Subcontinent — by a wide margin.”

He said in January, petroleum was Rs116.60 per litre and diesel was Rs127.26 per litre, and it was reduced by Rs 42 and Rs 47 per litre respectively on January 1. Now petrol was increased by Rs25 per litre but it was still Rs17 cheaper than in January, he added.

He said diesel was increased by Rs21 per litre, but overall, was still Rs26 litre cheaper than what it was in January. The minister said the international price of oil had risen sharply in the last month and the rupee had also depreciated.

Omar Ayub said the price of Opec’s basket of petroleum products increased by 46 per cent last month. “We will move forward as per the fluctuation in the international oil market,” he added.

Separately, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz tweeted said that the welfare of the people was the priority of the PTI government and efforts would be continued to provide them relief.

He said the prices of petroleum products have been reviewed due to the surge in international oil prices.