Asem Mustafa Awan Islamabad: Pandering to public sentiments fits right in with all political parties that are now ousted from power corridors after their 16-month-long stint which also came after removing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from the reign of power. The regime change, or cipher scenario, could be many things, but PTI, after getting ousted, left a better legacy as compared to what a commoner is facing now. All political parties that formed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), to name a few, endorsed their actions when they were in power, raising the electricity tariffs citing the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) demands. The bills that have now been served have seen people come on the roads protesting and burning their bills owing to exorbitant prices. Many have died owing to this as bills have exceeded their total income. All political parties that justified their actions in the past are now turning the other way and arousing public sentiment for rebellion. PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif has expressed his concern over the increase in the prices of electricity and petroleum products, and has promised that he will end inflation after coming to power. The leadership of the Peoples Party has decided to raise its voice in favour of the people on electricity rates. The party has directed the workers to be the voice of the people and to support those who are protesting. How seriously and responsibly the former ruling parties have been doing their work can be seen from Senator Mushtaq Khan’s tweet, in which he said that during the sixteen months of PDM’s rule, five hundred billion rupees worth of electricity was stolen. There have been countless reports of electricity and gas theft for the past forty years about the leaders of the former ruling parties and these stalwarts continue to do this even today, and nothing has been done to stop them. The shortfall in electricity started after 1985, when programs like ‘Mere Gaon Mein Bijli Ai Hai’ were raised to get votes. It was the best time when dams could have been built. Kalabagh Dam could have been built then in a short time, but the PPP and Awami National Party (ANP) strongly opposed it, terming it a threat to national security. They could have built other dams, if not Kalabagh, for generating cheap electricity from water, but in getting kickbacks and commissions, expensive electricity was generated from diesel, coal and furnace oil. Agreements were made with independent power producers (IPPs) which created circular debts that now exceed Rs 2500 billion. The PTI government made mistakes but its performance on energy policy has been satisfactory. Fuel and electricity prices were under control, and business was not affected by the value of the dollar. The PDM parties tried to block the Bhasha Dam fund-raising campaign by making it controversial. Former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar had funds under the supervision of the Supreme Court but the impression was made that the former CJP was pocketing the funds. In this whole situation, the attitude of the major political parties and their leadership overlooked the masses sufferings, and PML-N and PPP are to blame. The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues. Photo Credit: Google File  Post Views: 267