PTI’s federal govt will not take any action against KE, say PPP leaders

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Karachi chapter staged a protest demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club on Sunday against the failure of the K-Electric (KE) to ensure uninterrupted power supply to residents of the city.

Speaking on the occasion, PPP Sindh General Secretary Waqar Mehdi said the federal government still possessed 26 per cent share in the power utility and so it was fully responsible to control the affairs of KE.

He said that even the protest sit-in earlier staged by lawmakers and federal ministers belonging to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) outside the head office of KE had remained unfruitful.

Mehdi claimed that the present federal government of the PTI would never take any punitive action against the privatised KE as its Abraaj-led management had strong fiscal ties with the ruling party prior to the 2018 general elections.

He said the PPP would come up with a harsh stance in case the power utility did not change its conduct that was causing problems for the residents of Karachi. He was of the view that the people of Karachi were full of anger against KE owing to the situation of power crisis in the city.

The PPP leader said that his party had the capability to bring improvement in the affairs of the KE. He added that the PPP would soon launch a protest campaign against the present federal government for its failure to provide any relief to the masses.

He thanked activists and supporters of the PPP for assembling on such a short notice to register their protest against the privatised power utility of the city. PPP Sindh Vice-President Rashid Hussain Rabbani said people had gathered in a large number to vent their anger against the power utility due to excessive load-shedding in the city. He expressed gratitude to supporters and workers of the PPP for registering their protest in the most civilised manner despite having massive resentment against the performance of the power utility. He recalled a statement of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto who had said that the agreement, which had been signed to privatise the power utility of the city, would plunge Karachi into darkness. He said Prime Minister Imran and his cabinet were full of people having dual nationalities and they were bent on destroying the economy of the country.