Will relief follow?

Jamaat-i-Islami's sustained campaign against the petroleum levy appears to have yielded its first meaningful concession from the government. After 19 days of sit-ins across the country and a nationwide shutter-down strike, the government and the JI have agreed to form their respective expert committees to examine ways of reducing the petroleum levy and providing relief to consumers. The two sides say they expect a workable solution within two weeks.

This is, at least, a step forward. The government had initially sought to have the sit-ins postponed while negotiations took place. Instead, the JI has chosen to keep its protests going while its representatives sit across the table with government officials. That is a sensible position. The continuation of peaceful pressure gives the talks some urgency and prevents the issue from quietly disappearing from the public agenda. There is little doubt that the burden imposed by petroleum taxation deserves serious scrutiny. For a country where transport costs feed directly into the price of food and almost every other commodity, such taxation has consequences far beyond the petrol pump.

Yet the formation of committees should not be mistaken for a solution. Pakistan has considerable experience with committees that produce recommendations that remain unimplemented, while the underlying problem remains unresolved. The real test will therefore come after the two-week deadline. The government must look to make commitment meaningful by setting out clearly what is financially possible, what cannot be done and why. The JI, meanwhile, must demonstrate that its demand for relief is accompanied by credible proposals that account for the country's fiscal constraints and its commitments under the IMF programme.

The government should also resist the temptation to use the committees as a pressure-release valve. Giving protesters a seat at the table is useful only if it leads to tangible relief. But whether this represents the beginning of genuine policy change or merely a temporary political compromise will become clear within the next two weeks.