Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Thursday, decided to march towards Murree Road in its bid to protest against inflation, particularly, the rising cost of electricity, in the country.
The party, which has staged a sit-in in Rawalpindi, also concluded the fourth round of its “confidential” talks with the government to resolve the deadlock with regards to their demands raised in the protests — albeit with no concrete resolution in place.
Addressing a presser here, JI Chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehmanalong with Deputy Chief Liaquat Baloch, Mian Aslam and other leaders said the party’s sit-in is aimed at providing relief to the inflation-hit public.
“National resources were sunk into the blind well of IPPs. The government has no choice but to think seriously about IPPs,” he added.
He maintained that not only that agreements with the IPPs should be revised but an investigation into agreements should also be carried out. “Agreements with IPPs are creating more disaster for the national economy,” he said, adding the salaried class has also been burdened with more taxes.
“We will go ahead with our march on Murree Road which will start at 6pm on Thursday and we will inform media if any progress is made in talks with the government,” he said, adding that the party’s sit-in is organised, peaceful and reflective of the public’s demands.
Rehmansaid that the JI has received feedback from the government committee on its six-point demands but his party has decided to not accept anything less than seven demands the JI made.
The workers of the JI have been staging a sit-in in Rawalpindi for around two weeks, calling on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government to revise tax rates, review agreements with independent power producers (IPPs), and slash electricity and fuel prices to provide relief to the inflation-hit masses.
Since the start of the protest, the government has held four rounds of talks with the JI delegation led by senior leader Liaquat Baloch, however, no significant breakthrough has been announced by either side so far. While, the other day, the federal minister for information has indicated that the government and the JI negotiators have reached some kind of consensus.
The government negotiators comprising federal ministers Attaullah Tarar, Amir Muqam, Prime Minister’s Media Coordinator Badar Shahbaz and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhary have conveyed how they want to address issues.
While the JI team led by Baloch and comprising Secretary General AmeerulAzeem and JI Islamabad Emir Nasarullah Randhawa said it has submitted their detailed position to the government, stating that the talks between them have so far been held in a good atmosphere.
Baloch maintained the government committee did not express any disagreement with JI’s demands, however, the party will still continue its anti-inflation march towards Islamabad 6pm onwards today. JI leadership has lamented the hike in cost of electricity, attributing it to the impact of government’s agreements with IPPs.