ISLAMABAD, June 16(ABC): Senior PPP leader and adviser to the Prime Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira on Thursday said that “we must change our habits and unite” while responding to the latest petrol price hike.
The statement came during a press conference of Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif, flanked by Kaira and MNA Asad Mehmood in Islamabad.
“With a heavy heart, the government had to make an extremely unwanted decision,” Kaira said, adding that the money from the national treasury started draining due to subsidies as the fuel prices increased when the incumbent government took charge.
He said that the experts and media were asking why the government was not making immediate decisions to stop the decline. He said that the government tried to avoid putting burden on the people and find a way to cushion them against the blow but it had no choice except to take tough decisions.
The politician appreciated that the public accepted the government’s decision with a little protest.
He criticised the former finance and federal ministers saying that those who signed contracts with the IMF were saying that the fuel prices will exceed Rs300 and subsidies will have to be abolished. He said that they were correct because they knew the details of the contracts.
“No government wants to become unpopular among the people but what choice do we have?” he asked.
“Whether to become Sri Lanka or to make efforts to steer out of this crisis.”
He said that only Pakistan is not facing such crises but the entire world’s economy is suffering.
“A labourer who avails Rs80 subsidy for one litre petrol while a land cruiser owner takes Rs8000 subsidy on 100 litre petrol. Can such a subsidy be continued?” he asked.
