ISLAMABAD: PMLN President and National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif while denouncing the government’s Rs 6 per unit electricity tariff hike, has demanded that the increase be reversed immediately.
In a statement, Shehbaz said raising the already unbearable electricity tariffs after dropping the massive petrol price hike bomb on the nation, was completely and utterly unacceptable. Imran Niazi should not incite further wrath of God because of the rising curses of the people of Pakistan buried under financial crisis, he said. He said that the already brutal increase in petrol prices had increased the price of everything exponentially, including flour and sugar.
“The increase of Rs 4 per liter in the Petrol development levy on top of the Rs 12 per liter was another injustice to the people. The government legislates in the interest of the IMF but cooked up excuses of not having two-thirds majority when it comes to legislating relief for the for the people. Imran Niazi only knows how to give relief to his ministries and to his allies but not to the people”, he said.
The National Assembly Opposition Leader said that the crude oil and oil import bill had reached a record high of $ 11.7 billion in the first seven months of the current financial year. He termed this sharp rise of 125% in energy imports a cause for serious concern. He said the business community was upset and the people were helpless but Niazi and his government was in state of complete willful denial.
“This Imran Niazi government knows only how to increase petrol prices due to the world market, but it is totally blind when international oil prices decrease. People of Pakistan have been suffering miserably for the past 4 years of PTI while the Niazi-led government has been busy making lame excuses while minting money through corruption. The government has neither the intention nor the capacity to provide relief to the people. Only by getting rid of it could the nation get any relief. The country and the people have gone bankrupt and the income of the rulers has increased”, Shehbaz said.
Instead of controlling inflation, Imran was obsessed with controlling opponents and critics, which is unfortunate. The hearth of the people is not burning but their heart is burning, he said. He promised that PMLN would fulfill the wishes of the nation by ousting this tyrannical Niazi regime.
