NA Opposition Leader Chaudry Nisar of PML(N) is acting like a hawk inside and outside the assembly. just read the charge sheet below which shows soon PPP and PML(N) would go to ultimate breakage of the ‘love affair’ in Punjab .
**Nisar lambasts government for not reducing oil prices
**
Friday, January 02, 2009
By our correspondent
LAHORE: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar has criticised the PPP government for showing an indifference to the Palestine issue and demanded that it play a role in convening a foreign ministers’ conference of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) to raise the issue.
Addressing a press conference at the Model Town Secretariat of the PML-N on Thursday, Chaudhry Nisar expressed reservations over the government’s ‘indifference’ towards the recent Israeli forces’ attacks on Gaza, which had resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent people.
He said it had been a tradition of the Pakistan government to condemn such acts of barbarity but the present government did not take any such step. He said there had been a massive hue and cry throughout the world if such a terrorist activity would have taken place in any other country but the whole world was witnessing the Palestinians’ plight silently and was reluctant to take action against Israel.
Nisar said the PML-N condemned Israel’s attacks on Gaza and killing of hundreds of innocent people. He criticised the role of the UN Security Council, which was quick in taking action over the Mumbai blasts but had closed its eyes towards the plight of Palestinians. He said the indifference of the world towards resolving the Palestine issue was encouraging Islamic militancy and creating a sense of agitation. The PML-N leader confirmed that his party was in contact with other political parties within as well as outside parliament because it was bringing a bill on the 17th Amendment. He also hinted that the party would table the bill within two months.
The opposition leader in the National Assembly criticised the PPP government for not reducing the petroleum prices despite a sharp dip in international prices. He alleged the PPP government had saved Rs 20 billion during the past three months after deducting taxes and other expenditures but the dividends did not trickle down to the general public.
He said the international price of oil was $35 per barrel in January 2005 while the Super Petrol was available in the country at the rate of Rs40 per litre. He said the petroleum prices were again $35 per barrel in the international market but the oil prices were still stuck Rs 57 per litre. He said the government was cheating and looting public on one hand and doing massive mismanagement on the other.
Nisar lamented that the government had also increased gas prices despite the fact its prices were at their lowest in the international market. He said fertilisers were available only to resourceful farmers at high rates while the poor were forced to cultivate their lands without fertilisers. He said the PPP government used to claim to be a farmer-friendly party but it had failed to control fertilisers’ prices.
The PML-N leader also charged the PPP government with accommodating Pervez Musharraf’ cronies, stating that Sharifuddin Pirzada, who was known for breaking the Constitution, was still enjoying the status of a federal minister in the PPP government and Maulana Fazalur Rehman, who had six seats in the National Assembly, was having three ministries in the cabinet although he was claiming that he was not with the government.
About the slogans of mid-term elections from certain corners, Nisar said the government had failed to deliver and it should mend its ways. He said they did not want early election because the country could not afford it right now. He said the PPP leadership was responsible for destabilising its own government rather than the PML-N. He said the MQM, a key ally of the PPP government, was on the opposition benches when the PPP government was lacking majority in the house. He warned that the PML-N would cross the bridge if the PPP tried to disqualify Sharif brothers through courts. Nisar also criticised the Punjab governor for using “illegal and unlawful tactics” to hinder the work of the provincial government.