Gas price hike sparks protests in NA as JI announces nationwide action

Opposition members staged a protest at the National Assembly on Friday against the government’s sharp increase in oil prices, with lawmakers chanting slogans while surrounding the president’s podium in defiance.

The government on Thursday further increased petrol prices by Rs 137 per liter to a record high of Rs 458.4 after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to impose more taxes on consumers.

The new petrol price of Rs 458.4 per liter is also much higher than the increase in the international market as Prime Minister Shehbaz has decided to increase the petroleum tax to a record high of Rs 160.61 per liter of petrol.

This is the second major increase in fuel prices in less than a month after Prime Minister Shehbaz increased diesel and petrol prices by Rs 55 per liter last month. The cumulative increase in the price of gasoline over one month amounts to 63% and that of fast diesel to 75%.

During the protest, some opposition members tore up copies of the assembly agenda in frustration. They insisted on addressing the House over rising oil prices, but Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah told them he would allow calls to order only after Question Hour.

The demonstration continued despite the warning and the floor was temporarily given to opposition member Junaid Akbar Khan. Khan, criticizing the government, said: “This incompetent and thieving government has been imposed on Pakistan. Last night, this imposed government dropped a Molotov cocktail on the people.”

Khan also spoke out against a state institution, prompting the vice president to respond sternly: “If you continue to speak against institutions in this manner, I will not allow the session to continue.” »

Other opposition members, including JUI’s Noor Alam Khan, called on the president to allow parliamentarians to discuss the soaring prices of petroleum products, highlighting growing public frustration over rising fuel and electricity prices.

Following the protest, the National Assembly session was adjourned until Monday.

Read: Oil contractors threaten to shut down tankers after sharp rise in fuel prices

The government raised prices after failing to convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to allow it to provide more subsidies. The IMF has capped maximum fuel subsidies at Rs152 billion.

However, the government’s most shocking action was to increase the levy rate on petroleum to Rs 161 per liter of petrol to raise additional funds to subsidize diesel prices. The government has entrusted gasoline consumers with the essential function of the state, which is to protect its citizens.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said the “sudden increase in the price of petrol and diesel is unacceptable” and announced a nationwide protest movement starting Friday in a post on X.

JI’s Munim Zafar, at a press conference in Karachi on Friday, demanded that the government roll back the hike in petrol prices and reiterated the start of the protest movement in Karachi, with a demonstration planned in front of the Millennium Mall at 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail also raised eyebrows over the increase in government levy, saying the government had last night increased petrol prices by Rs 79 per liter but at the same time decided to “increase taxes on petrol” by Rs 55 for a total increase of Rs 134 per litre. “And he keeps saying that he doesn’t want to put a burden on people and he wants to lighten the burden himself,” he noted.

Former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair also questioned why Pakistan has “the most expensive gasoline in the region”. According to him, petrol costs Rs 286 in India, Rs 280 in Bangladesh, Rs 322 in Nepal and Rs 406 in Sri Lanka, compared to Rs 459 in Pakistan.

“One reason: we are the most incompetent and the most corrupt of all these countries,” said the former governor.

He further noted that the government’s austerity measures have been poor, amounting to only “two months’ temporary minor austerity.”

Another former finance minister, Asad Umar, compared prices in India and Pakistan, saying that petrol prices in Pakistan are currently 48% higher and diesel prices 92% higher than in neighboring India.

He argued that the government’s “reluctance to tax the rich and powerful” left ordinary citizens to bear the burden, with most taxes collected from the working middle class.

Former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra also spoke to This is the highest petrol tax ever seen in the history of Pakistan.

Additionally, Pakistan People’s Party’s Natasha Dultana said the rise in gasoline prices overnight, without warning, was just another blow to the people. “How long will citizens have to bear this burden?”

Lawyer Saad Rasool predicted that the recent price hike “will push millions of hard workers below the poverty line.”

Former PTI minister Fawad Chaudhry felt that the country’s people had now become “Naseem Shah, so they imposed a fine!”