Opposition suffers another defeat as Senate approves OGRA second amendment bill – Geo News

ISLAMABAD: The Opposition, which enjoys a majority in Senate, faced an embarrassment in the Upper House after the government managed to pass theOil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Ahead of the vote, PPPs 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.

Senator Raza Rabbani said that the bill should have been put before the Council of Common Interest. But on the other hand, Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz clarified that the bill empowers OGRA and has "nothing to do with the IMF and CCI."

When the bill was presented before the House, 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 councils bill; the senate chairman cast the decided vote in favour of the law.

Chairman Sanjrani took a jibe at Energy minister Hammad Azhar after the latter arrived in the House late.

Hammad you can leave, the bill has been passed and youre late as always, said Sanjrani.

Under the bill, if the federal government fails to notify OGRAs recommended prices within 40 days, the regulator will be empowered to notify the new price.

The bill empowers OGRA to decide the price of RLNG and LNG without holding a public hearing.

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Opposition suffers another defeat as Senate approves OGRA second amendment bill - Geo News