JI plans to march towards Murree Road today

RAWALPINDI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Deputy Emir Liaquat Baloch has said his party — currently staging a sit-in in Rawalpindi — will begin its march towards Murree Road at 6pm today, as they continue to protest against rising inflation in the country.

"We will go ahead with our march on Murree Road which will start at 6pm on Thursday and we will inform media if any progress is made in talks with the government," the veteran politico said, addressing a presser at the Commissioner's House in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

Baloch insisted that the JI's sit-in is aimed at providing relief to the public.

Meanwhile, the party is also engaged in "confidential" talks with the government laying out its demands in the wake of the protests. The fourth round of the talks concluded a day earlier with no concrete resolution in place.

Baloch said that the JI has has received feedback from the government committee on its six-point demands.

The workers of the JI have been staging a sit-in in Rawalpindi for around two weeks, calling on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government to revise tax rates, review agreements with independent power producers (IPPs), and slash electricity and fuel prices to provide relief to the inflation-hit masses.

Since the start of the protest, the government has held three rounds of talks with the JI delegation led by senior leader Baloch — however, no significant breakthrough has been announced by either side so far.

The politico added that the government representatives — comprising federal ministers Attaullah Tarar, Amir Muqam, Prime Minister's Media Coordinator Badar Shahbaz and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhary — have conveyed how they want to address issues.

The JI team — led by Baloch and comprising Secretary General Ameerul Azeem and JI Islamabad Emir Nasarullah Randhawa — said it has submitted their detailed position to the government, stating that the talks between them have so far been held in a good atmosphere.

Baloch maintained the government committee did not express any disagreement with JI's demands, however, the party will still continue its anti-inflation march towards Islamabad 6pm onwards today.

The veteran politico lamented the hike in cost of electricity, attributing it to the impact of government's agreements with Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

"National resources were sunk into the blind well of IPPs. The government has no choice but to think seriously about IPPs," he added.

He maintained that not only that agreements with the IPPs should be revised but an investigation into agreements should also be carried out.

"Agreements with IPPs are creating more disaster for the national economy," he said adding the salaried class has also been burdened with more taxes.

'Next round of talks to continue today'

Tarar, while addressing a presser on Wednesday, said government will continue another round of talks with JI tomorrow, as conversation between both teams were held held in a positive manner.

He added that progress had been made with regard to the party's demands and some issues have been decided in writing.

"We have reached consensus on some issues and some matters are to be decided," he said.

The minister told the media that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had already started taking steps for solution to problems which are mentioned in JI's demands.

He said that the government wanted to provide cheap electricity to consumers and revise agreements with IPPs saying that a task force had already been constituted in this connection. "Jamaat’s demands are on the government's agenda."

He mentioned that the premier is committed to reducing electricity prices, with a significant subsidy of Rs50 billion provided to consumers using up to 200 units of electricity for the months of June, July and August.

The minister, commenting on JI's decision to continue its march towards Islamabad, said that it is the party's right and the government will facilitate it in this regards.

Meanwhile, the JI workers arrested in Sialkot have also been released, he said.