ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Saturday warned that the party would launch a nationwide wheel-jam strike if the government delayed approving public demands for economic relief.
The development came two days after a countrywide protest, during which six party workers were arrested for allegedly burning motorcycles and tyres in Karachi. The JI has distanced itself from these elements.
On the same day, Rehman, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Prime Minister’s Adviser Rana Sanaullah announced that the JI and federal government would form committees to recommend measures for reducing the petroleum levy and providing relief to the public.
Addressing a news conference in the federal capital alongside JI Deputy Chief Mian Muhammad Aslam and Islamabad Amir Nasrullah Randhawa, Rehman said formal negotiations with the government would begin on Monday, while sit-in protests across the country would continue simultaneously.
He also criticised the current administration and bureaucracy, describing them as an unconstitutional “Form-47 arrangement” that was passing the burden of its inefficiency and extravagance on to the public through heavy taxation.
Highlighting that the JI had protested for 21 days, with sit-ins held at dozens of locations, including 20 sites in Balochistan and Swat, Rehman maintained that public pressure had forced electricity prices down by Rs10–12 per unit, saved the national exchequer Rs4,300 billion through negotiations with IPPs, and prevented petrol prices from rising further.
Addressing the national economic crisis, the JI chief said Pakistan’s total debt had reached Rs110,000bn, while annual interest payments stood at Rs8,000bn.
He argued that a three per cent cut in the central bank’s policy rate would eliminate the need for the petroleum levy altogether.
Criticising systemic corruption, he highlighted Rs1,300bn in annual losses due to “incompetence” at the Federal Board of Revenue and condemned continued payments to re-gasification plants even when liquefied natural gas was not being supplied.
The JI chief also drew attention to governance failures in the social sector, citing a devastating fire at the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and a 50pc failure rate in Punjab’s ninth-grade examinations.
Rehman criticised Sindh’s key political parties, describing them as “opportunistic” and accusing them of leaving Karachi’s issues unaddressed. He said the grievances had driven residents to demand a separate province.
Announcing the party’s future plans, Rehman said the JI would launch a signature campaign targeting 50 million citizens to push for structural relief, local government reforms and a reduction in bread prices to Rs10.
