Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Saturday demanded that petrol prices be reduced to Rs250 per litre, industrial electricity tariffs be fixed at nine cents per unit as per regional average, and gas prices be substantially lowered and frozen for at least three years to stabilise the industry and economy.
Addressing a press conference at Karachi JI headquarter, Idara Noor-e-Haq, the JI chief said the recent reduction of Rs22 per litre in the petrol price was insufficient and that under prevailing economic conditions, prices should be further cut by Rs122 per litre.
He said there was no justification for continuing with the petroleum levy during “war-like and extraordinary economic conditions”, adding that the levy had originally been imposed to enhance refinery capacity but no meaningful progress had been made in that regard.
Rehman said the JI would present comprehensive budget proposals in Islamabad on June 3. He called for a fresh review of what he described as ‘oppressive’ agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) and urged the government to stop unnecessary payments, claiming that consumers had paid around Rs1.8 trillion this year for electricity that was never produced.
Criticising the government over the stalled Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project, he said no practical progress had been made despite being in power for four years.
He also criticized what he termed an unfair tax burden on salaried individuals, noting that salaried taxpayers contributed Rs605 billion to the taxes last year while feudal landowners paid less than Rs12 billion. He demanded that individuals earning up to Rs125,000 per month be exempted from income tax in the next budget.
The JI chief said Pakistan needed people-centric economic policies, transparent governance, empowered local governments and an end to corruption to overcome its crises.
Turning to Karachi’s civic problems, Rehman said the city’s issues could only be resolved through a strong and empowered local government system. He accused the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation and Sindh Solid Waste Management Board of failing to fulfil their responsibilities, forcing town administrations to perform duties beyond their mandate.
He said that corruption and mismanagement had paralysed the system and criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party for what he called a history of undermining democratic values, from the events of 1971 to the recent local government elections in Karachi.
He also criticised the condition of sanitation services during Eidul Azha and said more than half of Karachi was facing severe water shortages while the ‘tanker mafia’ operated with government patronage.
On the Palestine issue, Rehman said Israel was continuously committing war crimes in Gaza by bombing unarmed Palestinians in violation of agreements, while the United States was fully backing the Zionist state. He also claimed that voices protesting for human rights were being suppressed globally.
He further accused the government of prioritising International Monetary Fund demands over public welfare and alleged corruption in the Benazir Income Support Programme. He said outsourcing thousands of government schools in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reflected state failure in the education sector.
