Inflated bills: Nation braces for shutter down

With a staggering rise in petroleum products serving as the last nail in the coffin, the boiling frustration over inflated power bills and soaring living costs will explode into a countrywide strike on Saturday (today) with Jamaat-e-Islami, traders and lawyers declaring their protest against the financial burdens.

Protests against high electricity bills have grown after the caretaker government refused to slash energy prices without a nod from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

A massive increase in the price of electricity triggered protests across major cities last week, with people burning utility bills, blocking highways and attacking power companies’ offices.

Read PM Kakar’s stern message: pay the bills unfailingly

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has promised relief, but on Tuesday, his cabinet had said slashing the bills would jeopardise a massive IMF loan.

The global lender had put Pakistan under tough conditions to end energy subsidies and meet revenue targets for a $3bn loan in July aimed at reviving the nuclear-armed nation’s crumbling economy.

The government’s inaction prompted more people to join rallies and protests all over the country, including in Islamabad.

JI chief Sirajul Haq made the announcement of the nationwide strike during a news conference in Lahore on Friday as a means to protest against the oppressive electricity bills. The party demanded the government to revoke its "draconian" decisions.

Secretary General Amirul Azeem bemoaned that the people of Pakistan were not free, but rather slaves to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Urging citizens to participate in the strike and not relent until their demands are met, Azeem lamented the lack of transparency surrounding the agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) and demanded their scrutiny in parliament. He stressed the need for the termination of these agreements altogether.

Read also Nationwide protests erupt against inflated electricity bills

With anger reaching breaking point, with preparations underway for the shutdown, residents and businesses in Lahore are bracing themselves for a day of disruption.

Meanwhile, in Karachi, JI Sindh and Karachi chiefs Muhammad Hussain Mehnati and Hafiz Naeemur Rehman warned the caretaker government of Karachi not to take unconstitutional measures to impede their protest.

They said the government would be solely responsible for any resulting consequences if it tried to block the strike.

'Governor House sit-in If govt ignores demands'

If the government fails to heed their strike, the JI Karachi has indicated that they will stage a protest sit-in outside the Sindh Governor's House.

Mehnati expressed his concern that the country was being governed according to the whims of the IMF, noting the significant increase in electricity tariffs from Rs12 to over Rs50 per unit within two years.
Contrasting with past protests held by other parties, Naeem assured that the JI's strike would be peaceful.

In a related development, Markazi Tanzeem-e-Tajran Pakistan President Muhammad Kashif Chaudhary declared that trader organisations would participate in a nationwide shutter-down strike on Saturday, stretching from "Khyber to Karachi".

Read more: Our hands are tied by IMF on ‘subsidies’

Chaudhary criticised the government for imposing higher prices on petroleum products, which he claimed would further exacerbate inflation.

He mentioned that a successful strike had already been "rehearsed" by the traders' community in Karachi on Friday. After the nationwide strike, the organisation would consult other stakeholders to determine their next strategy.

Additionally, Chaudhary demanded the abolition of all taxes incorporated in electricity bills and the discontinuation of the provision of 340 million free electricity units to government employees. He also called for the termination of expensive contracts with IPPs and the initiation of new contracts without illicit kickbacks.

Karachi markets shut

Karachi’s wholesale and major markets on Friday remained closed because of the shutter-down strike called by the traders of the city against the exorbitant electricity bills, high inflation and hike in the prices of petroleum products.

However, small shops remained open at the neighbourhood level. During the strike, public transport vehicles operated as normal. The city’s filling stations and medical stores also remained open.

The legal fraternity also decided to play their role in the strike.

The Punjab Bar Council (PBC) announced that it would boycott lower courts on Saturday against the electricity price hike, rising inflation and the increase in the prices of petroleum products.