Jamaat-e-Islami emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that they have achieved the targets through its historical sit-in staged in Rawalpindi against the exorbitant electricity bills.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, he said that the JI gave some time to the government to reconsider its policies pertaining to the Independent Power Producers (IPPs). “We have not called off our sit-in. We just put it on hold for some days and gave time to the government,” JI emir said. He urged the government to cut its expenditures in order to avoid the JI’s sit-in in future. Hafiz Naeem added that the JI gave awareness to the people over the issues of exorbitant electricity bills and IPPs. “The joint committee of JI and government will review the electricity bills within a month,” he said.
Earlier, the government and JI had reached an agreement pertaining to relief for the masses in electricity bills, reduction in taxes for the salaried class and reviewing the IPPs contracts. The JI had staged a sit-in for its demands. Several rounds of talks between the government and the JI took place and on Thursday their negotiations concluded with the formation of a taskforce to resolve issues and announcement from the Jamaat to postpone its sit-in. Both sides reached an agreement with respect to reducing power tariff, reviewing IPPs contracts, and cutting taxes imposed on salaried class.
Talking to journalists, JI Naib emir Liaquat Baloch had said, “An empowered taskforce has been set up which will complete its work in a month and submit its report to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. “The sit-in staged by JI on July 26 has created a history as the government set up a taskforce to meet the JI’s demands,” he said. The government has also agreed on the ToRs of the taskforce, which include selecting experts from the public-private sector, involving the Wapda chairman and auditor general, and hiring a private firm and chartered accountants to examine the IPPs matters, Baloch said.