In what can only be said to be more of the same, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif acknowledged on Friday that it was his government’s responsibility to control loadshedding without identifying when that would happen while blaming the preceding government for the problems.

“The day is nigh when loadshedding will come down,” said while addressing a session on controlling power outages in Islamabad on Friday.

Pakistan is currently facing a power shortfall of at least 7,674 MW, with those associated with the power sector saying that it would soon balloon to 9,000MW. This has resulted in power outages from anywhere between 6 to 18 hours in different parts of the company. It has even resulted in violent protests as the country deals with the twin menace of outages and extreme temperatures.

“The Imran Khan-led government failed to ensure the upkeep of power plants. Several had to be closed down due to it,” he said, adding that several plants have been re-opened since the PML-N led coalition government came to power.

Several power plants with accumulative capacities of 5,739 MW were closed due to a shortage of fuel including RLNG, coal and furnace oil while some plants having 2,156 MW were shut down for routine and technical maintenance, newly-appointed Power Minister Khurram Dastgir had claimed last month.

PM Shehbaz also cited the global increase in petrol and gas prices for the problems facing Pakistan’s energy sector. The situation has been exacerbated by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine that has deprived Europe of its main source of gas, further driving up prices.

“The PTI-led government wasted its time in blaming others. If they had spent even half the time on providing relief to the people, the crisis could have been averted altogether,” said PM Shehbaz.

Earlier, addressing the inaugural function of the “Innovation Hub” for public participation in national policies, the premier talked about empowering youth.

“Modern sciences are the need of the hour. We need education, research and debate. As nations move forward, I will personally promote the Innovation Hub,” he said.