Govt didn't bother to take Parliament in confidence over Qatar LNG deal: Khursheed Shah
Whenever it faces difficult times, the government returns to the Parliament, says Shah
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Opposition Leader in the National Assembly (NA) Khursheed Shah has denounced the government for not taking the Parliament in confidence over LNG deal with Qatar worth $16 billion, Dunya News reported Friday.
While delivering a speech in the National Assembly, Shah termed driving the decision power out of the Parliament, solely in government’s hands a ‘sad’ act.
Whenever it faces difficult times, the government returns to the Parliament, he added.
Unfortunately the government is unaware of the power that the Parliament bestows on its members. It aches when ministers term opposition’s arguments ‘politics’. Whenever the Parliament was not given its due importance, a conspiracy was hatched against it, he added.
Shah said that not every decision is taken with money. Parliamentarians kept arguing for liquefied natural gas (LNG) for around a year and a half however, nobody bothered to take them in confidence.
It should be mentioned here that a delegation led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif signed a $16 billion LNG deal with Qatar on February 11.
While criticising in the National Assembly, Shah said that former government’s agreement pertaining to LNG was transparent but ex-chief justice (CJ) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry did not let the government go through with the deal.
He vowed to inform the participants about Pakistan International Airline’s (PIA) losses simce 2006.
Major decisions should not be taken by International Monetary Fund (IMF) but the people of the country, he added.
The Opposition Leader said that the state, without any doubt has immense power but one could imagine how dangerous the situation becomes if leader of a country succumbs to dictatorial behavior. Workers of the party that had promised loadshedding-free Pakistan beat their own people for protesting against outages.
Shah further said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) did not snatch ‘breads from labourers’ mouths’ during its tenure.
