Pakistan: Govt being targeted unnecessarily

Daily Times

Raja laments dictators ruled country for years but no one stopped them from unconstitutional actions Country’s future lies in increasing hydropower generation

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Saturday said that dictators ruled the country for more than 10 years in one go, but no one stopped them from their unconstitutional actions, but an elected government was unnecessarily being targeted. Addressing a function after inaugurating 72MW Khan Khwar Hydropower Project in Bisham, the prime minister asked the opposition parties to shun differences and come forward for holding of free, fair and transparent elections in the country. Election is the only process to reach the power corridors, he said, adding that he did not have differences with any opposition party and all should make collective efforts for holding free and fair elections. He said no effort should be made to destabilise the government, stressing the need for collective efforts to steer the country out of present crisis. He said that a consensus chief election commissioner had been appointed because “we do not want any hanky panky in the polling process.” He said that he had never made any effort to manipulate the elections rather “we are victims of conspiracies”. Some people had been giving time and date for the departure of the government but all such speculations fizzled out with the passage of time, he said, adding that he was sincere in establishing cordial relations with the opposition parties. He said that all the hydropower projects, including Neelum-Jhelum, Dober, Kohala and Dasu, would be taken up for overcoming the energy crisis. The future of the country lies in increasing hydropower generation, he said, adding that work on the Thar Coal Project had already been initiated. The prime minister, referring to the energy crisis, said that demand for power was increasing whereas the previous regimes did not add a single unit to the national grid, leading to the present situation. He said whenever the PPP came to power it had to face tremendous challenges, which it faced with courage and determination. He referred to the electricity crisis in 1993 when Benazir Bhutto was in power. In order to overcome the crisis, she had given the task to the independent power producers (IPPs), but that programme was subjected to criticism, he added. Resultantly, the investors stopped investment in the IPPs, while some investors were put behind bars, he added. However, he said, Benazir Bhutto government managed to add 4,000MW to the national grid through IPPs. Had the IPPs not been introduced, the country would have been in severe power crisis until now, he said. The prime minister said that there should be no politicking on the matters of national interest and propaganda that damages the country, should be avoided. After Mangla, Tarbela and Ghazi Barotha (initiated by BB), which other scheme in the hydropower sector has been initiated, the prime minister questioned. “I also want to install a tent in Thar area for the execution of coal project,” he said, adding that “we do not believe in hollow slogans, we all are patriotic people”. Meanwhile, Raja took an aerial view of the Tarbela Lake and hoped that waterpower generation would improve with increased inflow of water in the lake. At Shangla, the prime minister was briefed by the WAPDA chairman that the inflow of water in Tarbela had risen to 218,000 cusecs and with rising temperatures it seemed that the dam would fill soon.