ISLAMABAD: The absence of ministers once again marred the National Assembly proceedings on Thursday, prompting Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah to abruptly adjourn the house, with a warning to take action if the ministers failed to ensure their presence in the next session.
Shah criticised the government for not ensuring the presence of the ministers in the House to respond to questions asked by the members, saying he would not tolerate this behaviour next time.
During question hour, the agenda included inquiries about the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) and the Ministry of Communications, among others, but no federal minister was available to answer.
A visibly upset deputy speaker remarked that “we can see how seriously the Minister for Power, the Minister for Communications, and other ministers take the question hour, particularly with the recent expansion of the federal cabinet.”
He went on to say that “it is the collective responsibility of the cabinet, and that if the ministers take collective responsibility, that is fine, but skipping the house proceedings like this is simply unacceptable.”
“We have already informed the prime minister about the issue. It is unfortunate that while the size of the cabinet has been expanded, no minister stepped up to answer questions in the house.”
He declared that he is going to adjourn the House with only warning to the ministers to take the house proceedings seriously, or else he would be left with no option but to pass strict rulings against them.
Meanwhile, in a written reply to a question, Minister for Energy (Power Division) Awais Leghari said that circular debt has not increased during this financial year.
During first six months of this financial year, he added, there is a decrease of Rs 9 billion in circular debt.
He said that the circular debt stood at Rs 2,393 billion at the end of June 2024, but it decreased to Rs 2,384 billion by the end of December.
He said that the main factors behind buildup of circular debt are governance and operational inefficiencies in transmission and distribution, under-utilisation of installed capacity, inflation, rupee devaluation, shifting to alternate sources including the drastic increase in roof-top solution etc.
In a separate written response, Minister for Energy (Petroleum Division) Ali Pervez Malik said that Pakistan has also signed a non-binding framework agreement with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) under the IGA for the import of one (1) LBG cargo per month (as and when needed) on a take and pay basis, which is valid until 23rd July 2028.
The House offered Fateha for ex-MNA Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal who passed away recently.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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