Overview
- Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday ordered that no area face more than two hours of scheduled load‑shedding and instructed distribution companies to form consumer grievance committees within a week.
- Officials told the review meeting that disruptions to RLNG imports linked to tensions in regional shipping lanes have lowered thermal power output and forced mandatory load management.
- Coalition partners PPP and PML‑N publicly pledged to keep the federal alliance intact while PPP leaders sharply criticized the government for failing to hold local elections and for rising fuel and electricity costs.
- Jamaat‑e‑Islami has announced nationwide protests with a planned Islamabad march on 20 September demanding repeal of the petroleum levy, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister’s allegation of a PTI worker’s brutal death during raids is an active, unverified claim that has intensified political confrontation.
- Longer term relief depends on steady fuel imports and supply diversification, while households face higher bills now and the government must manage rising street mobilization and intra‑coalition friction to avoid deeper instability.