Maryam Nawaz slams Pak govt for 'incompetence, corrupt practices' after oil crisis report
Dec 16, 2020
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 16 : Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday slammed Prime Minister Imran Khan's government for 'incompetence, poor decision-making and corrupt practices', two days after an inquiry commission on the June petroleum crisis released its report.
The commission's 163-page report also estimated over (Pakistani) Rs 250 billion worth of oil smuggling from Iran and noted that a wide range of operations in the oil sector were against law and rules, operating without any check and balance, reported Dawn.
"The report on the oil crisis confirms what we already knew. It was a direct result of the selected's incompetence, poor decision making and above all corrupt practices. This is exactly why he needs to go and is on his way out," Maryam said in a tweet on Wednesday.
"As if we had shortage of scams -- sugar, wheat, LNG, medicines, and now the oil scam. All multi-billion dollars scams reflecting incompetence, poor decision-making and looting & plundering the masses to benefit selected & his cronies," she said in another tweet.
Dawn reported that the 15-member inquiry commission on the oil crisis recommended departmental proceedings against the top hierarchy of the petroleum division, dissolution of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and a halt to the operations of refinery and oil marketing company Byco.
It said having seen the affairs of Ogra, the commission was also 'compelled to recommend' performance audit of all the regulatory bodies (National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, Competition Commission of Pakistan and Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan).
Information Minister Shibli Faraz on Tuesday said the report on the oil scam was placed before the cabinet and the prime minister has vowed to take stern action against those involved in the scandal.
The report also identified a series of malpractices, including manipulation of pricing mechanism, adulteration, misrepresentation and evasion of taxes, figure fudging and so on across the supply chain, reported Dawn.
