Opposition pledges to give govt a hard time
* Talks between govt and opposition on prolonged load shedding fail
By Faisal Awan

ISLAMABAD: Opposition parties in the National Assembly have devised a joint strategy to give a tough time to the government.

The parties in a meeting on Tuesday decided to observe Friday as a day of mourning over the deaths occurred due to the devastating heatwave in Karachi and other parts of Sindh. Leader of Opposition in NA Khursheed Shah said that the PML-N government had made several claims before election but failed to fulfil them. He said, “We presented many proposals of public mandates but to no avail. The government is not ready to listen to our demands. It can show seriousness of the treasury in resolving public issues,” he maintained “Is this the level of seriousness of the government that Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif is absent from the NA proceedings?” he questioned. Saturday was the hottest day of this year in Karachi, during which temperature rose to 45 degree Celsius. The maximum temperature of 48 degree Celsius was recorded in Jacobabad, Larkana and Sukkur, on Saturday, which decreased to 41 on Sunday.

He regretted that the government while taking the advantage of the opposition’s walkout passed the demands for grants and appropriations for the next financial year in haste.

During sehr and iftar, he said, the government has not set a good tradition as the power load shedding continued. “The government should not fear protests,” Khursheed Shah said, adding that the tradition of various kinds of protests and demonstrations in the country has been established due to the government’s failure.

“We will protest if our demands are not accepted,” Shah cautioned. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Shah Mahmood Qureshi said they would send a requisition to call National Assembly session to discuss the power load shedding. He said they would observe day of mourning on Friday and prayers in absentia would be held outside parliament for those who lost their lives in the current heatwave.

Rashid Godail of MQM, Sahibzada Tariqullah of Jamaat-e-Islami, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad of Awami league, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Ghulam Ahmad Bilour also spoke. Meanwhile, the dialogue between the government and the opposition on participating in NA proceedings and on the prolonged load shedding have also been failed. The talks were held in the speaker’s chamber. The opposition parties announced to continue boycott of the proceedings and decided to table requisition regarding the session if the government adjourned the session.

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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