Sunday, 11 December, 2022 I 17 Jamadi Awwal, 1444 I Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 162 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
Amid power crisis, pm tAkes notice of ‘poor performAnce’ of energy sector g
Questions use of expensive imported fuel in power plants; summons important meetings next week profit report AhmAd AhmAdAni
Court dismisses drugs case against Sana LAHore stAff report
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aking serious notice of the alleged ‘poor performance’ of the energy sector, prime minister shehbaz sharif has summoned important meetings to be held during the next week to take up three agenda items, it was reliably learnt on saturday. according to sources, the prime minister office has called important meetings during the next week to take up three agenda items including gas procurement options, review meeting on strategy to deal with gas shortage, dashboard regarding gas companies redressal mechanism, replacing expensive imported fuel with local cheaper fuel in power plants and refinery policy. the meetings to be chaired by the pm shehbaz sharif are scheduled (tentatively) to be held in the next week, said sources. the sources said that the pm office, in a most immediate letter, has asked the secretary petroleum to immediately provide the soft and hard copies of the information/documents related to above meetings. the pm office sought brief talking points for the pm, minutes of last two meetings, if any, on the subject, copy of presentation (if any) and list of participants (duly signed), said sources. they added that premier shehbaz sharif, while taking serious notice of the poor performance of the energy sector and use of expensive fuel in the power plants, delay in the approval of new refinery policy, gas shortage etc in the country has summoned important meetings on the subject matter during the next week.
the energy ministry has failed to secure the approval of the new refinery policy despite passing one and half years and due to this delay the likely investment of approximately $ 12 billion of saudi arabia and united arab emirates (uae) in the oil refining sector has been facing postponement and this undue delay has made the pm unhappy, said the sources. sources said that the government has decided to give an end to the use of expensive imported fuel in the power plants and for this the pm would issue necessary directions to use local coal in the coal power plants during the upcoming scheduled meeting. similarly, the meeting scheduled to be held under the chair prime minister shehbaz sharif during the next week is likely to take decisions regarding the gas procurement/import from different countries in order to control
the gas shortage. moreover, the meeting is expected to formulate a mechanism for solving the fears and problems of gas companies, said sources. they added that the pm would bring big changes in the coming days if the pm finds no progress/development in the energy sector. it is pertinent to mention that gas consumers of all categories are facing gas shortage with the start of winter season and the government has been facing severe criticism from all corners of life for making no arrangement to bridge the gas shortage of the country while the country’s own gas reserves are fast depleting. also, the government has been facing public wrath due to expansive power tariff and taking cognizance of the matter the premier has called the meetings during next week to ensure relief for the public and save the government skin from further public criticism.
a court in lahore has acquitted rana sanaullah khan of smuggling heroin in his car, ending a high-profile case that focused public interest on how the justice system would treat the loudmouthed minister for interior. khan was arrested in July 2019 by the anti-narcotics force (anf) from the islamabad-lahore motorway. firdous aashiq awan, then-minister for information, said 15 kilograms of heroin was seized from his vehicle. He spent nearly six months in prison until the lahore High Court (lHC) ordered his release on bail after ruling that no substantial evidence was ever presented to the court. drug smuggling is of 27 crimes that can lead to a death sentence in pakistan. saturday ’s decision was announced on a petition for acquittal khan moved in the morning, claiming the case was politically motivated, and that the prosecution did not have any evidence to prove the charge.
He also blamed the former government of imran khan for victimising him, according to farhad ali shah, his attorney. during the proceedings, two anf officials, imtiaz ahmed and ehsaan azam, dismissed “wrong” charges against the minister. in their affidavits submitted in court, the two claimed they were present at the scene when khan was arrested. “we never saw any sort of drugs being recovered from the scene,” they declared. at the time of his arrest, khan’s lawyer, azim nazir tarar, told reuters the accusations were “ridiculous”. tarar said khan had told the court at his arrest hearing that police had intercepted his vehicle and driven him to their office in lahore without elaborating any further. officials told him later that heroin had been seized from his car, he said. the anti-narcotics police said khan himself pointed to a briefcase on the rear seat of the car when intercepted, and helped officers unzip a polythene bag containing the drugs.
Imran sticks to Punjab, KP assemblies’ dissolution to force snap polls iSLAMABAD stAff report
former prime minister and pti Chairman imran khan sunday reiterated his resolve for making all out efforts for holding early elections which he said were “essential to avert the looming default” and stabilise the ailing economy. “i am sticking to his decision to dissolve the provincial assemblies [of kp and punjab] in december in a bid to force the incumbent government into early elections. we will implement our decision to dissolve assemblies and we are holding consultations and preparing our party leaders because negotiations for caretaker set-up will start after the dissolution of assemblies,” the former premier said in an interview with a local tv channel on saturday. when asked to give an exact date for assemblies’ dissolution, imran said, “it will be done in december”. responding to a question that punjab Chief minister pervaiz elahi was reluctant to dissolve the provincial assembly, the pti chief said the pml-Q leader believed that the provincial government “should continue for some more time”. “But he [Cm elahi] has also said that he will accept whatever decision i will take [for assembly].” imran also dispelled the rumours that Cm elahi attached a condition that he would only dissolve the provincial assembly if pti agreed to nominate him for chief minister after next elections. “who needs the elections most? our [popularity] graph is going up. opposi-
tion and general Bajwa had hoped that our party will fall apart after regime change operation,” he remarked. imran said the early polls had become the necessity of the nation and the military. “political stability is essential for the revival of economy which could only come through early elections… elections are essential for this country and pakistan army because lCs [letter of credit] are not opening for the import of weapons.” imran khan claimed that former chief of army staff general (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa told him to replace usman Buzdar with aleem khan as punjab chief minister. “general (retd) Bajwa’s demand to remove Buzdar was strange,” khan — who levelled allegations against the exCoas recently — said. khan, who was removed from the prime minister ’s office through a noconfidence vote in april, said: “general (retd) Bajwa asked to remove usman Buzdar. He would insist on making aleem khan the chief minister of punjab.” the ex-prime minister said that he informed general (retd) Bajwa that aleem had a lot of allegations levelled against him, and that, in light of those claims, he couldn’t appoint him as the chief minister. the former prime minister revealed that the incumbent Cm of punjab Chaudhry parvez elahi did not want aleem as the province’s chief minister. Calling all those people involved in
ousting his government as “mir Jaffer and mir sadiq”, he said: “whatever happened with pti during the last seven months was all because of ex-Coas gen Bajwa’s policies.” “gen (retd) Bajwa would say nobody will take a ticket from pti and pml-n would form the new government,” he claimed.
khan alleged that during his government’s tenure, general (retd) Bajwa controlled the national accountability Bureau (naB). “naB was under Bajwa’s control; therefore, he decided who would go in and who will be released. it was not in our hands,” the pti chief said. He alleged the former army chief
would oversee who should be arrested and who shouldn’t. “we did not have the authority. those who did, they provided relief to them. naB was not under our control. they [military] had influence everywhere,” he said. the former prime minister added that he was asked to deal with the economy and leave accountability to them. Berating the pakistan democratic movement (pdm)-led government, the ex-premier said the multi-party alliance was “trying hard” to get him disqualified. “[pml-n] supremo nawaz sharif is trying to close all cases against himself and disqualify me,” he added. shedding light on the prevailing situation in the country, khan reiterated his demand for elections, linking economic growth with political stability. “whether they hold elections now or after 10 months or a year, they [pdm] will lose,” he claimed. while referring to the punjab by-polls results that were held in July, the pti chief said that those who left the party to join the pdm were punished for doing so in the by-polls — as the party won a majority of the seats up for grabs. Condemning the dismissal of pakistan muslim league-nawaz’s (pml-n) supremo nawaz sharif’s cases, khan said: “nawaz sharif will not return until his cases are dismissed. if he comes to punjab, then he will be arrested. the former premier added that general (retd) Bajwa considered prime minister shehbaz sharif a “genius”.