ISLAMABAD: The Opposition, which enjoys a majority in the Senate, faced an embarrassment in the Upper House of the Parliament on Wednesday after the government managed to get the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 passed from Senate.
The development comes ahead of the government’s claims of tabling a no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan and Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar in the Lower House of the Parliament.
Ahead of the vote, PPP’s Yousaf Raza Gilani said that a public hearing was necessary before approving the price. However, Leader of the House Senator Shehzad Waseem said that the bill was already passed with consensus in the relevant standing committee.
On the other hand, Senator Raza Rabbani said that the bill should have been put before the Council of Common Interest.
Science and Technology Minister Shibli Faraz clarified that the bill empowers OGRA and has “nothing to do with the IMF and the CCI.”
When the bill was put before the House for vote, the Opposition staged a walkout and the bill was passed by the Senate after the Dilawar Khan group voted in favour of the bill.
In the initial voting, 29 senators voted in favour and the same number of lawmakers voted against the bill. However, the bill was passed by the Upper House after Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani voted in favour of the bill.
The same happened during the allied health professional council’s bill as the senate chairman cast the deciding vote in favour of the law.
Chairman Sanjrani took a jibe at Energy Minister Hammad Azhar after the latter arrived in the House a bit late.
“Hammad you can leave now, the bill has been passed and you’re late as always,” said Sanjrani.
Under the bill, if the federal government fails to notify OGRA’s recommended prices within 40 days, the regulator has been empowered to notify the new price.
The bill empowers OGRA to decide the price of RLNG and LNG without holding a public hearing.
