PMML Calls Rs1.11 Power Hike A Suicidal Attack On The Poor

LAHORE: The Pakistan Markazi Muslim League has demanded that the government withdraw this month’s Rs1.11 per unit rise in electricity bills and stop what it calls unnecessary payments to independent power producers, branding the increase and the IMF’s push to curb petrol relief a “suicidal attack” on the poor.

In a statement, PMML Secretary General Saifullah Qasuri warned of public resistance if tariffs go up again or relief on petroleum products is cut.

People were already enduring unannounced load-shedding while paying more, he said. “Consumers are being denied a basic necessity despite paying exorbitant electricity bills. What exactly does the government want?”

He urged the government to review costly agreements and expenditures that had become a standing burden on the exchequer and on consumers, instead of raising tariffs further. The party made a similar case last month when it sought a forensic audit of IPP deals.

Mr Qasuri said decisions should be taken in the national interest, not on the IMF’s dictation, and that relief for inflation-hit citizens was the government’s responsibility.

“If providing limited relief on petrol is objectionable to the IMF, why are similar conditions not imposed for ending the privileges, unnecessary expenditures and extravagance of the elite?” he asked. The burden of reform, he added, should not fall on the public alone.

The statement targets two decisions taken within days of each other. The power regulator has notified a fuel charges adjustment of Rs1.11 per unit for August, to be collected in October bills. It was lower than the Rs1.73 sought by the power purchasing agency and does not apply to lifeline consumers, but it is the third monthly increase in a row.

This week Pakistan and the IMF also announced a staff-level agreement that opens the way for about $1.2 billion. The Fund wants the Rs100-a-litre petrol relief scheme phased out, at a time when petrol is nearing Rs395.

The complaint about outages is not new for Lahore either, where load-shedding gripped the city in late August as the distribution system came under strain.