LAHORE: A government delegation met Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman on Thursday to seek an end to the party’s protests against the petroleum levy, with both sides agreeing to form negotiation teams.
The government delegation, led by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, met Jamaat-e-Islami leaders at Mansoora in Lahore. The government team includes Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah and Khawaja Salman Rafique, while Jamaat-e-Islami’s negotiations will be led by Deputy Emir Liaquat Baloch.
Speaking at a news conference after the meeting, Ahsan Iqbal said the government wanted to provide relief to the public and had formed a team to discuss possible measures. He invited Jamaat-e-Islami to present proposals that could help reduce the burden of rising fuel prices.
Ahsan Iqbal also said the government did not want a situation that could be exploited by the country’s enemies and stressed the need for political forces to work together to maintain internal peace.
Rana Sanaullah said Hafiz Naeem had told the government that his party had proposals that could provide relief to the public. He said the government would consider implementing feasible proposals.
Hafiz Naeem said Jamaat-e-Islami had been holding sit-ins at 30 locations across the country for 19 days. He said the party had no desire to hold protests but was doing so because of problems faced by the public.
Naeem said the party’s demands included reducing petrol prices, abolishing the petroleum levy, lowering electricity costs, reviewing payments to independent power producers and reducing the price of bread.
He claimed that Rs8 trillion had been collected through the petroleum levy since its introduction and criticized the government for increasing the levy instead of suspending it.
Hafiz Naeem said the party had formed a negotiation committee headed by Liaquat Baloch. He added that protests and negotiations would continue simultaneously.
He also claimed that more than 40% of people were living below the poverty line, while criticizing capacity payments being collected from regasification plants.
Hafiz Naeem said several cities observed a complete strike Thursday and reiterated that Jamaat-e-Islami would continue its sit-ins until its demands were addressed.
