ISLAMABAD: Bowing to strong opposition from almost all political parties, the government decided on Monday not to increase the prices of petroleum products from Feb 1.
A parliamentary committee, headed by Petroleum Minister Syed Naveed Qamar and comprising representatives of the PML-N, PML-Q, ANP and MQM, failed to reach unanimity on raising the prices of petroleum products.
The government will now have to absorb an impact of about Rs13 billion by maintaining the prices at the level of Oct 31 last year despite a rise in international oil prices.
Meanwhile, the government and the PML-N forwarded to the National Assembly speaker on Monday names from the both houses of parliament for a 12-member committee to work out a procedure for selection of an independent chief election commissioner and members of the Election Commission.
After a third round of discussions on PML-N’s 10-point agenda, the two sides indicated that a consensus had been reached on laws for across-the-board accountability, including that of army generals and judges.
At a joint news conference with PML-N leader Ishaq Dar, Law Minister Babar Awan said both the parties had finalised the names of four members from the government side and four from the opposition in the National Assembly and two each from the Senate to prepare the procedure and criteria for the appointment of an independent chief election commissioner and members of the Election Commission.
He said the list had reached the NA speaker who would notify the constitution of the committee.
Mr Awan said the government had already notified the formation of a judicial commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Sardar Raza Khan to probe into the sugar scam.
Mr Ishaq Dar said the commission would complete its investigation in 45 days and submit a report with recommendations and identifying those responsible for sugar price manipulations.
Asked why had the parliamentary committee not been able so far to make progress on immediate economic challenges and remained focused more on political issues like accountability and election commission, he said the full parliamentary committee would have detailed discussions on corruption, restructuring of state enterprises and austerity measures.
