Albatrosses taking down Khan?

ISLAMABAD: Are some albatrosses around PM Imran Khan taking him down? Is Nadeem Babar, the special assistant for petroleum the albatross that will become Khan's nemesis? Will Nadeem Babar also face a case that former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is currently facing for having reportedly bought expensive LNG from Qatar?

Is Razzad Dawood another one, who had vitiated relations with Beijing by talking of "problems in CPEC contracts? Does Ali Zaidi, another federal minister, belong to the club of PTI Albatrosses, who had several months ago triggered the devaluation speculation by recklessly telling media that dollar will eventually surge above Rs.140? Or Faisal Vawda, the loose mouth, always spewing senseless, unrealistic bluster?

They all have been, through irresponsible statements, on occasions not only triggering perception management crisis but are also a source of continuous call-out on conflict of interest.

Is it only a bizarre coincidence that Razzaq Dawood, as a minister under General Pervez Musharraf, had landed the lucrative multi-million Mangla Dam Raising project, while under Imran Khan Dawood's DESCON secured the Mohmand Dam project.

No conflict of interest?

Nadeem Babar's appointment as special assistant flew in the face of prime minister's repeated vows to guard against conflict of interest; he is a major player of energy sector and still holds the majority shares of Orient Power-- an independent power producer (IPP).

Babar's Orient Power RLNG, as of Dec 2018, owed 2.6 billion to Sui Northern as gas, RLNG charges and Late Payment Surcharges (LPS). By implication, Orient Power stands out as the biggest defaulter of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL).

A statement of facts released to the media by the Group's counsel Advocate Salman Akram Raja, says Orient Power is not the defaulter of Sui Northern, saying it is being supplied gas by Sui Northern for operation of the plant but acknowledges that a dispute between Power Orient and Sui Northern since 2009 over certain amounts claimed by SNGPL as payable on account of a clause in the Gas Supply Agreement.

The Orient Group also runs a joint venture in partnership with Pyramid Pakistan Petroleum Inc, Orient Operating Company Private Limited, RDC International Private Limited, Nativus Resource Limited and Paige Limited.

What could be more ironical than the fact that the PM was talking of possibility of oil and gas reserves but his special assistant goes public with the news that the...