ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the coalition government’s agenda is to reduce electricity bills and stressed that there should be no politicization as protests against high energy prices continue in various parts of the country.
The prime minister, while chairing a cabinet meeting in Islamabad on Friday, said politics on the electricity issue was tantamount to insulting the people.
“We don’t believe in politics for the sake of politics,” he added.
The prime minister’s remarks came amid protests led by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) against high electricity costs that forced the closure of the main road to Islamabad, while protests were also held in several other cities by traders.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets to demand the government withdraw taxes imposed on energy consumption, which have triggered massive bill hikes and worsened the suffering of consumers, especially those from the lower and middle classes.
According to JI Emir Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, the party is ready to continue the protests in the streets to firmly oppose the government’s decision on the rising cost of power.
On 13 July, the public, already bearing the brunt of rising inflation, suffered another blow after the Shehbaz government proceeded with another 20% hike.
It is also important to note that experts – during a panel discussion in Karachi – did not indicate any reduction in electricity prices due to the government’s decision to make petroleum products and energy “revenue generating sources”.
At today’s cabinet meeting, the prime minister said that the government is aware of the salary tax.
“We have provided Rs 50 billion for July, August and September,” he said, adding that the government has reduced the unit cost of electricity for industry by Rs 8.5.
He claimed that his administration protected consumers with the use of up to 200 units of electricity following its interest in the grade.
Prime Minister Shehbaz added that while some taxes are perfectly legitimate, it is not right to impose more taxes on taxpayers.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday strongly condemned the unabated bloodshed of the Palestinian people by Israeli occupation forces and the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, warning that public anger would spiral out of control if the Zionist state was not held accountable. .
“The Zionist state has exceeded all limits of crimes… The lava of public anger is boiling… If justice does not prevail and the Zionist state killing innocent people is not held accountable, the lava of public fury will be in no one will risk the destruction of world peace and development,” the Prime Minister said in speech in the National Assembly after the House unanimously passed a resolution that called Haniyeh’s killing a “deliberate plot to sabotage” efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza and condemned Israel’s continued “… state oppression and brutality” in Gaza.
The prime minister, who had earlier also raised the issue at a cabinet meeting he chaired a while ago and at a coalition party meeting on Thursday, said the entire Muslim world, including the nation of Pakistan, was saddened by the killing of Ismail Haniyeh.
