ANP to join JI’s sit-ins against petroleum levy

ISLAMABAD: The Awami National Party (ANP) leadership has accepted an invitation to join the nationwide protest sit-ins of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) against the petroleum levy, a statement issued by the JI spokesman said on Wednesday.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman made a telephonic contact to ANP Central President Senator Aimal Wali Khan on Wednesday to hold detailed discussions on the overall political situation in the country, skyrocketing inflation, and the ongoing sit-ins staged by Jamaat-e-Islami against the petroleum levy. During the interaction, Naeem formally invited the ANP leadership to join the nationwide protest sit-ins, an invitation that Senator Aimal Wali Khan accepted.

Extolling the JI efforts, Aimal stated that inflation and the petroleum levy were not issues confined to a single political entity, but rather a collective ordeal facing the entire nation. He remarked that the public is already suffering from a severe economic crisis, while current government policies are further compounding their grievances.

He affirmed that the ANP will play an active role in every struggle aimed at safeguarding the economic rights of the masses, adding that it is the need of the hour for all democratic and political forces to unite and raise a joint voice against economic hardship and unequal policies.

Naeemur Rehman demanded that the government immediately abolish the heavy taxes and petroleum levies imposed on petroleum products to provide tangible relief to the general public.