t seems that the worries of the PML-N government are far from over despite claims by some of its leaders in regard to political and economic gains. The economic challenges are getting harder by the day since the beginning of the US war on Iran. Meanwhile, major political parties, including the Jamaat-i-Islami and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, have decided to cash in on the economic fallout that has landed the government in a spot of bother. The JI has been on the streets for several weeks staging dharnas (sit-ins), aiming to set out for a march on Islamabad to highlight high fuel prices and what it sees as unfair taxes. The PTI is all set to storm the capital to press the government for the release of its founder, Imran Khan, the former prime minister.

The government has managed, in recent days, to get the JI leaders to stop their march to Islamabad. In return they have been promised a reconsideration of the petroleum development levy upon the prime minister’s return from New York, where he is attending the United Nations’ annual General Assembly session. However, the PTI’s plan to march to Islamabad is intact and has forced the government and the Islamabad administration to take visible coercive measures.

The government estimates put losses to the economy due to protests, sit-ins and road blockades at Rs 120 billion a day. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has warned that these protests are already affecting major sectors of the industry, including services, agriculture and information technology. At the grassroots level, they are going to add to the miseries of the lower and middle classes.

All this may add to the problems of the government.

Fuel prices have already brought inflation to levels never seen before in the history of Pakistan. The rising cost of living has made the lives of common people miserable. The opposition to petroleum development levy has placed the government in a very awkward situation. Some government leaders have denied the suggestion that the petroleum levy tariffs were dictated by the International Monetary Fund. However, there is increasing support for the claim that the levy is impacting the common man more than the affluent classes.

The petroleum levy is currently one the most important revenue instruments at the government’s disposal. The government collected a record Rs 1.567 trillion from the levy in the financial year 2025-2026, surpassing the initial target. Some critics have said that in petroleum levy the government has found an ‘easy’ way to supplement its revenue after it failed to expand the tax net and bring foreign investment to the country.

New voices on the social media are increasingly questioning the lifestyles of the elite. It has been suggested that the frequent foreign trips by the prime minister and other government leaders—often with a large entourage—have imposed a heavy burden on the taxpayers’ money. No austerity measures have been proposed in this direction.

Critics accuse the government of ‘robbing’ the common man to sustain lavish lifestyle of the elites and to service its foreign and domestic loans. The government, they say, is not bothered about uplifting the common man who voted them into power.

The recent visit by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to attend the graduation ceremony of her daughter in London has caught the public eye. This has also revived the controversy about the purchase of a luxury Gulfstream G500 jet. Some spokespeople for the government had initially said the jet had been purchased for an airline the provincial government proposed to launch. It later surfaced that it was meant for the chief minister’s use.

The provincial government has clarified that the expenditures incurred on her trip to London were borne by the chief minister from her private means. However, the expenditure, even from private pocket, was widely seen as an extravagance, and unbecoming a popular leader.

While the JI has heeded the prime minister’s appeal for restraint and postponed its long march, the PTI is determined to mount a big challenge to the government. If the PTI can keep the momentum going, things can spiral into a situation that is hard to handle.

The writer is a senior broadcast journalist. He has worked with several news channels in Pakistan.