½karachi: Jamaat-e-islami (JI) Pakistan Ameer Engr Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman on Saturday demanded that petrol prices be reduced to Rs250 per litre, industrial electricity tariffs be fixed at nine cents per unit, as per regional average, and gas prices be substantially lowered and frozen for at least three years to stabilise industry and the economy.

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½Addressing a press conference at Idara Noor-i-Haq, the JI Karachi headquarters, along with acting Karachi ameer and opposition leader in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Saifuddin Advocate, Karachi secretary Toufiquddin Siddiqui, Sindh Assembly member Mohammad Farooq and town chairmen, the JI chief said the recent reduction of Rs22 per litre in petrol prices was insufficient and that, under prevailing economic conditions, prices should be further cut by Rs122 per litre.

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½He said there was no justification for continuing the petroleum levy during 'war-like and extraordinary economic conditions', adding that the levy had originally been imposed to enhance refinery capacity but no meaningful progress had been made in that regard.

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½Naeemur Rehman announced that the party would present comprehensive budget proposals in Islamabad on June 3. He called for a fresh review of what he described as 'oppressive' agreements with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and urged the government to stop unnecessary payments, claiming that consumers had paid around Rs1.8 trillion this year for electricity that was never produced.

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½Criticising the government over the stalled Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project, he said no practical progress had been made despite four years in power. He also highlighted what he termed an unfair tax burden on salaried individuals, noting that salaried taxpayers contributed Rs605 billion last year while feudal landowners paid less than Rs12bn. He demanded that individuals earning up to Rs125,000 per month be exempted from income tax in the next budget.

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½The JI chief said Pakistan needed people-centric economic policies, transparent governance, empowered local governments and an end to corruption to overcome its crises.

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½Turning to Karachi's civic problems, Rehman said the city's issues could only be resolved through a strong and empowered local government system. He accused the Water and Sewerage Board and the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board of failing to fulfil their responsibilities, forcing town administrations to perform duties beyond their mandate.

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½He said that corruption and mismanagement had paralysed the system and criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party for what he called a history of undermining democratic values, from the events of 1971 to recent local government elections in Karachi.

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½He also criticised the condition of sanitation services during Eidul Azha and said more than half of Karachi was facing severe water shortages while the 'tanker mafia' operated with government patronage.

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½Referring to national politics, the JI supreme leader said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had failed to win even a single polling booth in Karachi during the last general elections but was still awarded dozens of assembly seats. He further criticised both the MQM and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) for failing to address Karachi's longstanding infrastructure and transport issues.

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½On international affairs, the JI chief said Israel was continuously committing war crimes in Gaza by bombing unarmed Palestinians in violation of agreements, while the United States was fully backing Israel. He also claimed that voices protesting for human rights were being suppressed globally.

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½Naeemur Rehman further accused the government of prioritising International Monetary Fund demands over public welfare and criticised corruption in the Benazir Income Support Programme. He said outsourcing thousands of government schools in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reflected state failure in the education sector.