ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has termed the appointment of Maryam Nawaz as vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) illegal and said it portrayed the dictatorial mindset of that party.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, she said: “Since the PML-N has matured under the influence of dictators, it still has the habit of ignoring the directives of the election commission that no convict person can be an office-bearer of a political party.”

She said the announcement of positions by the PML-N leadership was like distribution of family assets among relatives, while it should have been decided by party workers.

Firdous says opposition party has ignored ECP’s directive that a convict can’t be given any office

Talking about a sudden increase in the prices of essential commodities with the advent of Ramazan, Dr Awan said it was unfortunate that businessmen were exploiting consumers.

She said keeping in mind the problems of the masses Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet to approve a Rs2 billion Ramazan package.

The adviser said the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) had reduced the prices of 19 commodities, including pulses, rice, cooking oil and sugar, under the Ramazan package.

She said that the USC would provide a subsidy of Rs4 per kg on wheat flour, Rs5 on sugar, Rs15 on ghee, Rs10 on cooking oil, Rs20 on gram pulse, Rs15 on moong pulse, Rs10 on mash pulse, Rs25 on white gram, Rs20 on gram flour, Rs30 on dates, Rs15 on basmati rice, Rs15 on sela rice and Rs15 on broken rice, Rs15 on squashes and syrups (1,500 ml), Rs10 on squashes and syrups (800 ml), Rs50 on black tea, Rs15 on milk and 10 per cent relief on spices.

Dr Awan said the USC had been directed to ensure availability of all daily use items at its stores.

She said that the previous government had announced a Rs1.6bn Ramazan package last year, but utilised only Rs760 million, while the remaining amount lapsed due to lack of USC’s capacity.

USC Managing Director Umar Lodhi said panic-buying was leading to early clearing of shelves at several outlets of the corporation.

“All items are being supplied to 4,300 stores across the country, but buying in the first 10 days of in Ramazan is far higher than in normal days,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2019