The government strategy in the National Assembly was evident on Tuesday not to allow Parliament to be reflection of the will of the people on energy crisis, effectively overshadowed by the issue of new provinces in the country.
Everyone's expectations were that on-going protests and reportedly teargas and baton charge unleashed by the police on the people protesting gas shortage would create, at least, a wave of pity in the heart of policy makers and they would express a word of the sympathy in Parliament for them.
However, the government was more absorbed in enjoying a rumpus on resolution the MQM moved for debate on creation of new provinces which totally eclipsed energy crisis and protests and the major beneficiary of the situation un-doubly was the government. Interestingly, the support lent to the MQM resolution by the Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani was enough to expose the entire game plan and feeling in the ruling corridors about protests by the people on energy crisis.
This was also obvious why Prime Minister Gilani preferred hour- long discussion with the coalition partners on Monday instead of saying a single word about the ongoing crisis and when he spoke on Tuesday it was all about creation of new provinces. This gave credence to thinking in the opposition that the meeting between the Prime Minister and coalition partners was all about a strategy to dilute the issue of energy crisis. This objective was apparently achieved by bringing the issue of new provinces into the House.
Regrettably, the government response during the last four years to all the problems, including the energy crisis, could be summarised in two words, 'incompetence and lack of seriousness'. Syed Khurshid Shah, Chief Whip of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) reflected his mind by hurling entire blame of protests on the opposition and stated it was happening on the behest of a hidden hand. One can not even expect a word of sympathy from the rulers when they began to blame others of their own failures and start looking even their electoral with suspicious eye and this kind of attitude was nothing but a clear reflection of their total disconnection with the people who have elected them.
The resolution the government seems to have nudged was considered by the opposition only a political gimmick which at the one hand salvaged the government from the criticism over crippling energy crisis and on the other hand might have enabled the MQM, struggling to make some political inroads in Punjab, to gain some mileage.
However, the MQM move was being seen as ill-timed and would not go well into the people who have been rightly protesting against the government because the energy crisis has not only affected their livelihood but also greatly restricted their movement after the strike by transporters against the government decisions. An ordinary citizen is not ready to trust the statement coming from the government alleging the CNG dealers or attributing the shortfall to some extend to the theft, as being regulators, it was primary responsibility of the government to formulate policies for effectively dealing with all the problems and anomalies in the system instead of punishing the people who are finding it hard to make their both ends meet.
The elected government, especially, owes more responsibility to provide facilities to the people and not to unleash barrage of baton charge and teargas on them. The raising of issue for creation of new provinces by the MQM, who just a day ahead was protesting with the opposition on gas loadshedding, have benefited the government most for the time being. The PML-N and ANP have also pointed out that the resolution moved by the MQM could not be taken up in the House on technical grounds.
The MQM does not have required support in the provincial assemblies for passage of resolutions with two thirds majority for creation of Sariki and Hazara province and would not make any difference had it delayed the matter for few days to discuss and devise a consensus strategy to deal with the energy crisis and send a message to the people of the country that Parliament chosen by them after 2008 election was alive to their problems and sufferings.
Instead of delaying the issue of new provinces, the vehement insistence by the MQM for allowing in House debate instantly was seen as a move by the government to push the energy crisis under the carpet. So unexpected was the resolution for the main opposition party, Pakistan Muslim League-N that it could not have the time to react for the reasons that opposition leaders Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan and other first tier leadership was absent from the House at that time.
Growing demand for debate on resolution for creation of new provinces by the MQM forced the presiding officer, Yousaf Talpur to suspend the proceedings for twenty minutes to facilitate the political parties in making a decision whether to immediately have a debate or extend it to next few days.
When the House resumed proceedings, Mehtab Abbasi of PML-N wanted that the issue to be referred to the Advisory Committee of the Parliament first for discussion and then brought to the House and his point was also supported by the Law Minister Mullah Bux Chandio but appearance of the Prime Minster in the House, and putting all weight by him behind the MQM was revealing the entire story.
It was also evident that the issue of new provinces is expected to be part of the manifesto of all the political parties in the next elections but what should be worrisome by all of them was their indifferent attitude and failure to resolve the problems of the people which could transform the ongoing protest into a civil disobedience and things might slip away from their hands. So the need is that ruling coalition take the Parliament into confidence on issue concerning the people and prepare a consensus policies on energy crisis leading to closure of industries and unemployment.
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