The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Tuesday continued trading barbs over the electricity subsidy announced by the Punjab government, with officials of the PPP-led Sindh government deriding the relief measure.
Last week, PMLN President Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz announced a Rs. 14/unit reduction in power tariffs for consumers utilizing between 200 and 500 units per month for the bills of August and September. The Punjab government has maintained that the Rs. 45 billion subsidy would be funded by slashing the province’s development budget.
Following the announcement, people of other provinces, particularly Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had started questioning why their governments were not offering similar relief. Amidst the mounting criticism, both the PTI-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government and the Sindh government had slammed the PMLN, derided the relief measure, and pointed the finger at the federal government for failing to ensure relief nationwide.
Speaking with media, Sindh minister Saeed Ghani had described the measure as “foolish,” adding the PPP preferred to only offer “permanent” relief rather than time-barred measures such as the Punjab initiative. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had similarly alleged the subsidy was an attempt to “correct” the PMLN’s “mistakes” in the center. Provincial information minister Sharjeel Memon, meanwhile, had claimed the Sindh government was allocating funds for people’s welfare and did not believe the short-term subsidy would prove useful. Taking things further, on Wednesday morning, Karachi mayor Murtaza Wahab claimed the funds allocated for power tariffs could be used to “eradicate” stunting and child malnutrition.
Rebutting the PPP’s remarks, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari had lamented that the PPP had become the ‘B team’ of the PTI. She had also urged the Sindh and KP governments to announce their own relief measures rather than criticizing the initiative taken by Maryam Nawaz. Addressing an event, the chief minister questioned why so much criticism was being levelled over relief measures for the public.
The clash has played out in press conferences and prime time talk shows, with representatives of the PPP and PMLN criticizing each other for failing to ensure relief for the public. Also joining the fray are Barrister Saif, the spokesperson for the PTI-led KP government, who claimed the province-specific relief would boost a sense of deprivation among other provinces. This was echoed by the MQM-Pakistan and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, who vowed to launch a new protest movement against inflated electricity bills.
With the rancor growing, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday told a meeting of the federal cabinet that the center had not provided any funds for the Punjab scheme. Stressing the Punjab government was solely funding the scheme, he urged other provinces to follow suit and reallocate development funds to provide similar relief to electricity consumers. “The federal government has zero contribution to this relief package. Other provinces should also do the same. If the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government wants to give such relief to the people, we will be happy. But politicking should be avoided and facts should not be distorted,” he said.