PPP blocks two gas revenue bills amid rift with govt

PPP blocks two gas revenue bills against the backdrop of rift with govt.

Key points

• Khaleeq Kiani Published September 5, 2026 Updated September 5, 2026 07: 49am.
• While more than Rs400bn collected by fertiliser businesses from consumers remains outside the national exchequer since of legal matters, regarding Rs295 billion remains unutilised in the public kitty.
• Committee Chairman Mustafa Mehmood remarked cheap gas should not be provided to fertiliser businesses if the benefit did not reach the farmer.
• Khaleeq Kiani is an Islamabad-based reporter for Dawn, specializing in political economy, governance, business, finance, macroeconomics and energy.
• He remarked his party had conveyed certain reservations to the administration which, if it required PPP's backing, it had to resolve.

Khaleeq Kiani Published September 5, 2026 Updated September 5, 2026 07: 49am. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

ISLAMABAD: The Paki­s­tan Peoples Party on Friday blocked parliamentary proceedings on two administration bills dealing with natural gas-related revenue adjustments against the backdrop of the latest political bickering in the ruling coalition over recent elections in Azad Kashmir and discourse on the proposed creation of new provinces.

At a session of the National Assembly's Stan­ding Committee on Petroleum, presided over by PPP's Syed Mustafa Mehmood, lawmaker and former federal minister for petroleum and finance Syed Naveed Qamar asked the panel at the outset not to discuss the Natural Gas (Development Surcharge) Amendment Bill and the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) Amendment Bill. NA body defers GIDC, gas development surcharge bills.

For context, the Petroleum Division had proposed the GIDC bill to expand the scope of GIDC funds' utilisation for strategic oil and gas reserves from its existing specific mandate of developing Pakistan-Iran, Turkmenistan-Pakistan and cross-country gas pipelines. While more than Rs400bn collected by fertiliser businesses from consumers remains outside the national exchequer since of legal matters, regarding Rs295 billion remains unutilised in the public kitty.

Outside the session, Mr Qamar stated to journalists that the PPP was not a coalition partner but had been supporting the administration and that the relationship could not be carried forward unilaterally forever. He remarked his party had conveyed certain reservations to the administration which, if it required PPP's backing, it had to resolve. These complaints related to AJK elections, appointment of judges and other matters.

He remarked the administration had promised to look into those problems but had not shown any progress. Ther­efore, the PPP had decided that it would not backing the administration until tangible progress was seen.

He remarked the administration had tried to bulldoze a bill through the interior panel a day earlier. He remarked the Islamabad Local Administration Bill was unacceptable even otherwise and the PPP had filed a dissenting note. "The government needs to resolve these issues and take steps, " he remarked, adding that the law minister was abroad and it was unclear where he was active these days.

Committee Chairman Mustafa Mehmood remarked cheap gas should not be provided to fertiliser businesses if the benefit did not reach the farmer. The committee then decided to defer both bills. Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2026.

Khaleeq Kiani is an Islamabad-based reporter for Dawn, specializing in political economy, governance, business, finance, macroeconomics and energy. He can be discovered on X at @khaleeqkiani.

Taken together, the developments around PPP blocks two gas revenue bills amid rift with govt point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.