ISLAMABAD: The opposition leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub on Friday lambasted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for summoning Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) top leaders including him regarding the alleged misuse of jailed founding party chairman Imran Khan’s X account for disseminating incendiary content against state institutions.

Speaking in the National Assembly, Ayub, who is also PTI secretary general, slammed the investigating agency’s notices to him and other PTI leaders including the party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and central information secretary Raoof Hasan.

Ayub stressed that the parliamentarians were part of the state as per the constitution, adding the parliament is supreme than to any other institutions in the country. He also questioned higher authorities about the jurisdiction of a probe agency’s sub-inspector which allowed him to issue a call-up notice to the parliamentarians.

He demanded the house to summon the FIA’s director general to question his jurisdiction and also about the language which was used in the call-up notice.

Ayub said that he and several other PTI leaders were booked in terrorism cases in Sargodha. He alleged that some “aliens” were involved in the disappearances of party workers whenever they came out of jail.

He slammed that association with the Imran-founded party was seemingly becoming a crime in the country while there was no law in place which could stop such illegal activities.

He went on to say that Imran Khan was facing solitary confinement which he said was proved from the pictures of his prison cell at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

He further alleged that former first lady Bushra Bibi was also not given any facilities at the jail.

He said that other PTI women leaders like Aliya Hamza Malik, Dr Yasmeen Rashid and Sanam Javaid were not being released despite the mandamuses of their release being prepared. “Is this a banana republic? This kind of Gestapo state policy should be eliminated and let the country go ahead,” he added.

At the onset of the session, the state minister for finance and revenue Ali Pervaiz Malik said that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights to Europe are expected to be restored soon.

Responding to a calling attention notice regarding ban on PIA flights by the UK and the European Union (EU), he said that a detailed action plan from Pakistan has been dispatched to the EU Aviation Safety Agency and the verification process is currently under way.

“We’re optimistic that the verification process will be completed within two to three months and flights to Europe will be restored,” he added.

He said that the European Commission Air Safety Commission delisted Pakistan from its concern list on May 14, describing this as a positive development.

The minister also informed the house that K-Electric had achieved zero load-shedding on 1,500 out of 2,109 feeders in Karachi.

Replying to a calling attention notice, he said that the load-shedding of 6-10 hours is being conducted on the feeders with higher losses, and there is no truth in the claims that 16-hour load-shedding is taking place.

“The losses of 10 feeders have exceeded 25 per cent and the efforts are being made to reduce these losses with the help of local administration and public representatives,” he added.

He said that electricity tariff is regulated by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) following a prescribed procedure, adding that the electricity prices have not changed; increases are due to fuel price adjustments.

He said that the government is making efforts to promote renewable energy and consumers on feeders with high losses also face difficulties, which is a valid concern and transformer losses will be assessed to address this issue.

However, the opposition lawmakers belonging to PTI came down hard on the government for prolonged power outages in Karachi.

Areas including Korangi, Lyari, North Karachi and Surjani reportedly witness over 12 hours of load-shedding daily, they lamented.

At the same time, PPP MNA Nabeel Gabol also took an exception, saying that the state minister had been misinformed that the duration of load-shedding was 6-10 hours, saying his constituency is facing 16-hour power outages daily.

He challenged the state minister that he would resign as a member of parliament if the load-shedding was 10 hours long or the state minister should step down if the duration was more than 10 hours.

The house also resumed the debate on the address of President Asif Ali Zardari to the joint sitting of parliament.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024