JI Chief Calls for United Political Front in Nationwide Sit-In

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman requested the political forces in a press conference on Monday to support the sit-in going on at the moment. He stressed that this is a protest of citizens, a people’s demand in the country, and not a protest of the given party.

Rehman focused on the protest which enters its fourth day and referred to it as people’s unyielding. They had grievances to express whereby he cited how high electricity bills are and how the government has not done enough to help in this matter. He threatened that unless the government fulfills its preemptive demands involving a steep hike in electricity bills and inflation within 48 hours, protests are to spread to Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta tentatively moving towards Islamabad’s D-Chowk.

He pointed out that in Lahore there were problems, but he said women in large numbers would turn up for the protest, and accused the government of putting up barriers. In his speech, Rehman criticized partial deals with IPPs thus, finding out that 70 to 80 percent of the IPPs are actually defunct because of legal disputes over contracts. He called for a forensic probe of the special purpose vehicle IPPs and the doing away with capacity charges following high taxes on bills.

Rehman also urged for abolishing the privileges of government saying that why WAPDA officers and other officials are provided free electricity and fuel. He also recommended barring the prime minister, and other chief ministers besides judges from using cars over 1300 cc to ease the burden on the public, he said.

The JI leader urged the government to remove petrol because it hiked up other costs and said that taxes on necessities are harming the economy and putting people out of work. He called on political parties to embrace their fight and concentrate on the government’s deeds, not the party conflicts.

According to Rehman, a sit-in signifies the courage and light for the people of Pakistan to look forward to in a time when the citizens are currently facing severe inflation and expensive electricity bills. He used the government’s policies regarding to extension of destructive contracts with IPPs and called for a revision of the current privileges of the officials, who enjoy free electricity and use luxurious cars.

He also stressed that the government has surrendered to the request of the IMF, while not bothered about their luxurious expenditure; he continued that the dialogue with China can be cordial because China has always been supportive of Pakistan.