DERA ISMAIL KH AN: Jamaat-i-Islami acting central emir Liaquat Baloch has called for the burden of additional taxes and levies on petroleum products to be reduced, saying any relief from lower international oil prices should be passed on to consumers.
Speaking to reporters here on Saturday night, he said the government was responsible for ensuring that any reduction in petroleum prices translated into meaningful relief for the public.
Mr Baloch said fluctuations in international oil prices were one component of the price of petroleum products, while taxes, duties and levies imposed by the government constituted another significant component.
He said the government should review the petroleum levy, climate levy, customs duty and other charges imposed on petroleum products and withdraw the additional burden on consumers.
The JI leader said his party had also raised the issues of local oil refineries and the pricing mechanism for domestically produced crude oil during negotiations with the government.
He called for locally produced crude to be valued according to its actual domestic cost rather than being linked to the price of imported crude.
According to Mr Baloch, the government had accepted the proposals in principle, and they could provide room for reducing petroleum prices as well as adjusting the levy burden.
He said Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar had contacted him by phone and a meeting had been scheduled for Tuesday, expressing hope that the matter would reach a final conclusion during the meeting.
Referring to the government’s negotiations with independent power producers, Mr Baloch said reforms that had once appeared difficult had become possible following sustained efforts by the JI. He said a similar approach should be adopted on petroleum pricing so that the benefit of negotiations was transferred to consumers.
Asked about the possibility of emergency or governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr Baloch said all individuals and institutions were bound by the Constitution.
He said the use of constitutional powers with mala fide intentions had not produced positive results in the past.
Mr Baloch said people in the province wanted peace, protection of life, property and dignity, secure highways, employment opportunities and an environment conducive to business.
He said people had hoped that the imposition of emergency or governor’s rule might lead to an improvement in the law and order situation and restoration of peace.
Referring to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s response, he said the absence of protests by the party could be interpreted by some as an indication that it had itself realised that its governments had failed to take effective measures to establish peace in the province.
He said the federal government and security forces had now assumed responsibility for restoring peace in the province, making the task a major challenge for them.
Mr Baloch stressed the need for political forces to sit together and formulate a national course of action.