ISLAMABAD: Government and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) representatives have agreed on a preliminary framework for a possible deal after their 10th round of negotiations, JI leader Liaquat Baloch said on Tuesday.
Baloch said the government recognised that global conditions were affecting petroleum supplies and had agreed to consider expanding the existing relief package. JI has proposed extending assistance to vehicles of up to 1,000cc and the agriculture sector.
The party also called for the immediate abolition of the petroleum levy, which Baloch described as a justified demand. He said the government had asked for more time to outline its approach to ending the levy and would discuss with the IMF how any relief scheme could be sustained.
According to Baloch, the government will brief JI on the proposed framework. The party will then decide whether to proceed with a long march. Another committee meeting is expected next Wednesday or Thursday, while a final decision could follow a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.
Baloch said JI would leave the talks if they no longer produced results. He also credited the party’s protests with helping secure reductions of Rs146 per litre in diesel prices and Rs120 per litre in petrol prices.
