The opposition parties on Friday walked out of the National Assembly (NA) in protest against what they called not being allowed to speak on the issue of production orders.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government’s ally Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal also left the House along with the opposition.
While speaking in the Lower House, the opposition raised the question that why the production orders – issued by Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser – are not being implemented and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and Rana Sanaullah are not being allowed to come to the parliament. The opposition announced to not attend NA proceedings until the participation of the detained leaders.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan tried to persuade the PML-N lawmakers but the opposition refused to listen to him. The session was then adjourned till Monday due to lack of quorum.
Earlier, the ministry of energy presented details of monthly changes in the price of petroleum products during the first year of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government and noted that the price of petroleum products increased seven times and decreased 11 times in the last 18 months.
According to the data presented by the petroleum division, the government – through petroleum taxes – earned a huge amount of approximately Rs 206 billion. The minister said the government is collecting Rs 45 per litre on diesel, Rs 35 per litre on petrol, Rs 20 on kerosene and Rs 14 per litre on light diesel in taxes.
