ISLAMABAD: Federal government has sought three more days to reach an agreement with the Jamaat-e-Islami party over its demand for the removal of a petroleum levy, the party said Thursday.
Another round of talks between government representatives and the Jamaat-e-Islami delegation was held in Islamabad, with the government asking the party to postpone its planned march toward the capital for three days.
The government delegation requested that the party refrain from announcing a final call for the march until Monday, Jamaat-e-Islami Deputy Emir Liaquat Baloch said.
Baloch said the government had offered no concrete response beyond delaying tactics and warned that protests from across the country would move toward Islamabad if the government failed to provide relief.
“We want relief for the public on petroleum products and the levy should be abolished,” Baloch said.
He said the party had presented the government with six demands and that officials had sought additional time, while bureaucrats continued to highlight obstacles to meeting the demands.
Baloch said his party was willing to continue negotiations within limits but could not allow the process to continue indefinitely.
He said the outcome of the latest meeting would be conveyed to Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, who would make the final decision on the party’s next course of action.
Jamaat-e-Islami has been holding sit-ins in various cities across Pakistan for the past 26 days against the petroleum levy and rising inflation.
