ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan chief, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had sought another seven to 10 days to address the party’s demands regarding the abolition of the petroleum levy.
Addressing a news conference here, the JI chief announced that if the government failed to provide relief to inflation-hit masses, his party’s long march would take place in mid-November.
Flanked by JI vice chiefs Liaqat Baloch and Mian Muhammad Aslam, Deputy Secretary Syed Farasat Shah, KP North Emir Inayatullah Khan and Islamabad Emir Nasrullah Randhawa, Hafiz Naeem said the JI considered the petroleum levy a form of “extortion” and maintained that it must be abolished.
Giving the details about his party delegation’s meeting with PM Shehbaz Sharif and his team, he said the JI had agreed to give the government more time for negotiations but would not compromise on its demand for the complete abolition of the petroleum levy. He said the government had agreed to expand its previously announced relief package to benefit more people. However, differences remained over the levy, with the government favouring its gradual withdrawal, while the JI insisted on its complete elimination. “The demand is clear: the petroleum levy must be abolished, and people must receive genuine relief in petroleum prices,” Rehman said, rejecting proposals to reduce the levy by Rs20, Rs25 or Rs30 per litre as insufficient.
He warned that the JI would intensify its protest movement if the government failed to deliver. “We will neither postpone the Islamabad march nor end our protest campaign,” he said, announcing that the march would take place in mid-November.
Responding to a question, the JI chief said the government side was also represented by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Ali Pervaiz Malik, Senator Rana Sanaullah, Minister of State Bilal AzharKiyani and Ahad Cheema. The JI delegation was led by Hafiz Naeemur Rehman and included Vice Emir Liaqat Baloch, Deputy Secretary Syed Farasat Shah, KP North Emir Inayatullah Khan and Islamabad Emir Nasrullah Randhawa.
Rehman said the JI had presented detailed proposals and economic data to the government, arguing that the public should not be forced to bear the cost of economic mismanagement and policies pursued under International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes.
He said the government was collecting around Rs150 billion monthly through the petroleum levy, while its relief package was initially announced at Rs26 billion. Even if the package was valued at Rs32 billion, he added, the amount remained far below the revenue collected from consumers.
According to the JI chief, nearly 70 percent of the levy’s burden fell on low-income and middle-class households, costing them more than Rs100 billion a month. He said the existing relief measures did not adequately address their difficulties.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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