ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), warned on Monday that it will march on Islamabad in mid-November if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif does not abolish the petroleum levy, escalating a two-month campaign over fuel costs that have surged since conflict erupted in the Middle East in March.
Party chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said at a news conference that the group had been patient and acted responsibly given the state of international affairs, but that the time had come to take a harder line.
"If the prime minister does not provide relief or abolish the petroleum levy, if he doesn't take any steps, then in mid-November we will, with full force, march to Islamabad," Rehman said.
The party is demanding the government scrap levies that add Rs114 to each liter of petrol and Rs100 to each liter of diesel. Rehman argued the levy has nothing to do with the price of petrol itself.
The threat came a day after the party said Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Rana Sanaullah, a special assistant to the prime minister, had contacted JI Vice Emir Liaquat Baloch. The party said they agreed that Rehman and Sharif would meet within two days.
Rehman said federal ministers had repeatedly reached out to the party, but that Baloch had told them talks would yield nothing until the government offered something concrete. He acknowledged the government had promised to work on the issue and determine what could be achieved at a meeting with the prime minister.
"We have never said no to a meeting but I want to say this clearly to the government that we don't want a meeting so we can make an event out of it," he said.
Rehman also criticized a relief package the government announced in September, saying it was only introduced because of JI protests in 42 cities. Under the program, owners of motorcycles, three-wheeled vehicles and cars up to 800cc receive 100 rupees off each liter of fuel, up to 20 liters a month for two- and three-wheelers and 30 liters a month for small cars.
Rehman said the scheme leaves out many motorcyclists, car owners and users of public transport, and does nothing about rising grocery and goods prices driven by higher diesel costs. "Large political parties don't even talk about nation's genuine issues," he said, adding that only JI had raised the concerns.
The party's campaign has repeatedly stopped short of confrontation. On Aug. 16, JI announced sit-ins in all provincial capitals and called a nationwide strike for Sept. 3. When that day arrived, the two sides agreed to form committees to recommend ways to reduce the levies.
On Sept. 20, the party launched a protest march toward Islamabad, warning it could become a movement to topple the government if the levy was not abolished. Two days later, with its convoy in the central city of Multan, Rehman postponed the march at Sharif's request after the prime minister promised a meeting.
In a statement last week, JI said that meeting had never been arranged and that the government had made no further contact about it.
