PESHAWAR: The opposition political parties on Friday staged protest against the increase in petroleum prices in the national assembly, forcing the speaker to adjourn the proceedings indefinitely.
When the assembly session begin, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif said that the government is serious in answering the questions raised by the opposition lawmakers on the floor of assembly for the past several weeks. He demanded the Deputy Speaker to take notice and direct the ministers to response to the opposition’s queries. Asif lamented, “Another petrol bomb has been dropped on the people. May God have mercy on the people.”
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Opposition parties later protested in the National Assembly against the increase in prices of petroleum products. During the protest, members of the opposition held banners and chanted anti-government slogans. Opposition members of the National Assembly later surrounded the speaker’s dice and announced to boycott of the assembly, after which the National Assembly session was adjourned indefinitely.
The federal government has once again raised the prices of petroleum products on 30 September. According to the notification issued by the Finance Ministry, the price of petrol has been increased by Rs4 while diesel has been increased by Rs2 per liter. With this increase, the new rate of petrol has gone up to Rs127.30 per liter while diesel to Rs122.40 per liter. The opposition political parties slammed the government the rise in petroleum products.
Earlier, in a written reply to a question regarding the poor performance of the Pakistani squad in the Tokyo Olympics, Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Fehmida Mirza said that the government has started accountability of the Pakistan Olympic Association. She said in a written reply to the National Assembly that the government had asked the President of the Olympic Association to resign, adding “we do not want undue interference in this matter.”
“At the Tokyo Olympics, the Pakistani squad consisted of 10 athletes and 11 officials. The Sports Board paid for the travel, accommodation, uniforms and kits of 10 athletes and 3 officials,” she said. Mirza said that the ministry was not informed about the performance of the athletes, the selection of athletes was done by the National Sports Federation and the Olympic Association while the government only acted as a facilitator.