The government and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) negotiating committees ended their meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday with both sides agreeing on an outline for a possible agreement, according to JI leader Liaquat Baloch.
Speaking to reporters after the 10th round of talks, Baloch said the government had accepted that global conditions were making it hard to supply petroleum products. It was also decided to widen the existing relief package to give the public further help.
JI demands on vehicles, agriculture and the petroleum levy
Baloch said JI had proposed bringing vehicles up to 1,000cc and the agriculture sector into the relief scheme. He added that the government had accepted the demand to scrap the petroleum levy as justified.
Also read: Govt, Jamaat-e-Islami petroleum levy talks end in stalemate
“We have demanded the immediate abolition of the levy and visible relief for the public,” he said. He added that the government had asked for time to set out its future plan for phasing out the levy.
Government’s IMF talks and next steps
Baloch said the government was responsible for talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to keep the relief scheme running. He also said the government was unwilling to give up its own luxuries, while the public bore the cost of failures at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
The government will brief JI on the agreed outline, after which the party will decide whether to launch a long march, Baloch said. The next meeting is expected next Wednesday or Thursday, and the final decision will be taken in a possible meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.
JI claims credit for fuel price cuts
Baloch claimed JI’s protests had helped secure relief in petroleum prices, saying the public received Rs146 per litre on diesel and Rs120 per litre on petrol. “We will walk out of the negotiations the day we feel there is no benefit in continuing them,” he said.
