PM didn’t dismiss inflated power bills as non-issue: Solangi

Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi on Saturday said that some sections of media misreported the recent interaction of interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar with journalists, clarifying that the latter did not dismiss the matter of inflated electricity bill as a non-issue. The information minister was referring to the premier’s interaction with the journalists a few days ago amid nationwide protests over skyrocketing electricity bills and record-breaking inflation. A shutter-down strike was also being observed across the country today on the call from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and different traders associations. The strike was also supported by lawyers, with the legal community boycotting courtrooms. Read more: Protests against rising power costs, inflation continue across nation Solangi, in a statement today, clarified that when the prime minister was asked during the interaction whether the electricity bills had caused chaos or anarchy in the country, he ruled out the anarchy, but did not dismiss the matter as non-issue. “The prime minister had not stated that the issue of electricity bills was not worrisome for the people, rather he explained what the reasons behind the expensive electricity were,” he added. Solangi said that the prime minister reaffirmed in the media interaction that the solution would soon be worked out. He said that those who were responsible for the current situation had also been using the issue for political point-scoring in the wake of the upcoming election. Read: Karachi protests inflated bills “PM Kakar never said that people’s problems were unjust,” he added. He said some responsible journalists had also confirmed that the prime minister had not referred to the matter of electricity bills as a non-serious issue. “Instead, he had stated that the country had commitments with international organisations, assuring that a solution would be worked out for the people without compromising the promises made to the organisations,” he added. The minister said that ironically, it was projected in some sections of media that the prime minister was not concerned about people’s difficulties, which was unjust and against journalistic norms. He appealed to the media to report news according to the facts. The minister also cited a couplet from Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry to comment on the misreporting of the media interaction. At no point did the PM @anwaar_kakar term the higher electricity bills as “ non-issue”, something a section of the media has been mis-reporting about. The PM said the reports of chaos and anarchy were not serious and that was a non issue. He not only sympathised with people,… pic.twitter.com/79qURVjPtf — PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) September 2, 2023  

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