Secretary General, Jamaat e Islami, Liaqat Baloch, has called upon the Prime Minister to explain to the nation if only some top bureaucrats were responsible for the petrol crisis and why the Economic Committee of the Cabinet and government experts had not foreseen the situation.
Giving the JI stance on the issue, he also urged the government to satisfy the nation that this was not a conspiracy for the privatisation of the PSO. He said the petrol crisis had exposed the government performance and good governance while the media talks had revealed the facts behind the arrogance and the tall claims of the ministers. The JI Secretary General said that the petrol shortage had hit two third population of the country and badly affected the national economy while the Prime Minister had acted belatedly.
He refuted the idea that the crisis was due to increase in demand, and said actually this was because of mismanagement, corruption, incompetence and lack of interest. He noted that the government had not imported any petrol during the month of December last. Liaqat Baloch called for effective measures to overcome the petrol shortage and strict compliance of the rulers in regard to the stocks of the commodity. He demanded that OGRA be freed from the bureaucracy's hold and a technocrats' team be appointed there to oversee the matters. He said that PSO be freed from the government hold and a permanent head of PSO should be appointed with a team of experts.
He said that severe load shedding due to petrol crisis was the writing on the wall and the government should make immediate steps in this direction as well. Liaqat Baloch said that Pakistan's image in the world market had been badly damaged due to non payment.