By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami has warned it will march on Islamabad in mid-November unless Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif abolishes the levy on petrol and diesel, which the party says has pushed the cost of living beyond the reach of ordinary families.
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, the party’s emir, told a press conference at its Mansoorah headquarters in Lahore on Monday that Jamaat-e-Islami had been patient and had acted responsibly given the state of international affairs. That period, he said, was over. “Now, the responsible thing to do is for us to be aggressive,” he said.
“If the prime minister does not provide relief or abolish the petroleum levy, if he doesn’t take any steps, then in mid-November we will, with full force, march to Islamabad,” he said. He urged the government to accept the party’s grievances and “handle” them in advance by easing the burden on the public.
Rehman said federal ministers had contacted the party repeatedly, but its position had not shifted. Liaquat Baloch, the party’s vice emir, had told them that “nothing will come out of talks until something tangible is given”, he said. He conceded that the government had promised to work on the issue and to settle what could be achieved when the two sides meet.
On Sunday the party said Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Rana Sanaullah, special assistant to the prime minister, had called Baloch, and that a meeting between Rehman and Sharif would take place within two days. Rehman questioned what ministers could usefully tell the prime minister when the party had already submitted its demands. “We have never said no to a meeting but I want to say this clearly to the government that we don’t want a meeting so we can make an event out of it,” he said. If the meeting produces progress towards relief, he added, he will make what he called an important announcement that evening.
Jamaat-e-Islami has pressed for more than two months for the abolition of the levies on fuel, saying prices have soared since conflict in the Middle East began in March. Taxes and duties on petrol stand at Rs114 a litre and on diesel at Rs100, figures that include a levy of Rs80 on petrol and Rs77.28 on diesel.
Rehman also dismissed the relief scheme the government announced in September, which he said had been forced by the party’s protests in 42 cities. Under it, owners of two- and three-wheeled vehicles receive Rs100 off each litre on a monthly quota of 20 litres, while owners of cars of up to 800cc receive the same reduction on 30 litres. He said many motorcyclists, car owners and public transport users fall outside it, and that it does nothing about the rising price of groceries and other goods driven by higher diesel costs. “Large political parties don’t even talk about nation’s genuine issues,” he said, claiming that only his party had raised them.
He said the tax burden on ordinary citizens was growing while the profits of certain business groups continued to rise. He called for smaller profit margins for oil refineries and marketing companies, a cut in the central bank’s policy rate and measures to end interest-based economic practices.
The government has defended the levy as necessary for its fiscal targets. Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik told a Senate committee that any cut was unlikely to win approval from the International Monetary Fund unless alternative sources of revenue were found. The finance ministry has separately rejected a newspaper report that it had made the levy the central point of Pakistan’s $7bn IMF programme. Rehman has rejected the IMF argument, saying the agreement does not specifically require Pakistan to raise revenue through the levy and that the government should cut spending and broaden the tax base instead.
The campaign began in August. On 16 August the party staged sit-ins outside governors’ houses in the provincial capitals, then widened its protests to other cities, including Karachi, where it set up further camps across Sindh. On 3 September the two sides agreed to form technical committees to examine ways of cutting the levy and fuel prices. At the first round of talks on 7 September, the party handed over six proposals. The negotiations did not settle the dispute, and on 12 September Mr Rehman announced a long march on Islamabad for 20 September.
Marchers left Karachi by train that day and travelled through Sukkur towards Multan, where Rehman addressed supporters. On 22 September he said the march was being postponed at the request of the prime minister, who had telephoned him and invited the party’s leaders for talks. Jamaat-e-Islami agreed to give the government a chance, saying talks and protests could run in parallel and that any settlement must include complete abolition of the levy.
Relations have since cooled. On 10 October Rehman said there was no point meeting the prime minister unless the levy was to be abolished, adding that the date of any march would be set after consultations two days later. In a statement last week the party alleged that the government had made no further contact about the promised meeting with Sharif.
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