The Minister for Energy, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection is under pressure after he signalled a shift in the Government’s energy policy.
Speaking at a press conference in Karasicena yesterday, Dmitry Lebedev announced that a deal had been reached between President Artamova and Progressive Centrist Prime Minister Ludvig Fedorov, to switch the government’s energy policy away from a focus on cleaner energy.
The controversial stance is likely to lead to a major increase in funding for offshore oil and gas drilling as well as an expansion of oil fields in Amar, in northern Polasciana. The policy switch follows months of negotiations with neighbouring Uttania, after a deal was struck to construct new pipelines in Gallia as well as Saria. At the conference Mr Lebedev, who is also Polasciana’s Deputy Prime Minister, said that the renewed focus upon oil and gas production would ensure the “emergence of Polasciana as an independent and energy efficient exporter.”
With the two dominant political parties in Polasciana supporting the move, the role of the opposition has fallen to the Progressive’s former coalition partners – the United Nationalist Democrats. Their leader, and former presidential candidate, Tymur Rubin issued a strong statement and urged the Assembly to reject the Government’s proposals.
Stating that Polasciana “must have a future in protecting the environment,” Rubin joked that the Minister had been ‘too busy playing Deputy Prime Minister’ that he had ‘forgotten’ that he was also the Minister for Environmental Protection.
Urging Prime Minister Fedorov to reconsider, Mr Rubin said that Mr Lebedev was “out of touch” and had “no idea of the impact of such a devastating u-turn.”
Submitting a report to the President’s office, the United Nationalist Democrats threatened a walk out of the Federal Council in protest to the planned construction of four new oil and gas drilling platforms off the coast of southern island Olkshoi.
The leader of the official opposition, Lazar Ulanov is meeting with key members of his party this evening in a crunch meeting on whether to support President Artamova’s decision to support the Progressive government’s policy shift.
The Union Party is under increasing pressure to oppose the move by activists who are committed to campaigning for a ‘clean energy’ policy in opposition.
Trade unions have also criticised the government’s plans on the basis that the private sector’s expansion of major gas and oil infrastructure in the Long Sea will be largely unregulated by the Energy Ministry, and instead by a new ‘competition commission’ – a vote will be held on Thursday afternoon on an initial reading of the Energy and Economic Futures Bill.
