RAWALPINDI: Traders here on Sunday asked the caretaker government to withdraw the increase in petroleum prices within three days otherwise a shutter-down strike will be started.

Rawalpindi Traders Association spokesman Naveed Kanwal told Dawn that the caretaker government had no right to make such a major decision as its mandate was limited to holding general elections without imposing new taxes or increasing them.

He said the association at a meeting on Sunday decided to give the caretaker government the deadline to revisit its decision. He said people were already suffering from energy crisis and the latest surge in the petroleum prices and the increase in value of dollar would bring more inflation. “Such decisions should be left for the next elected government which will be formed after the July 25 elections,” he said.

Representatives of political parties and traders say caretakers have no mandate to take such a major decision

Babar Jadoon, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Rawalpindi chapter president, termed the hike in POL prices unjustified and said it would make common man’s life miserable. He also said the interim set-up had no mandate to take such a decision. Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Rawalpindi chapter spokesman Malik Azam termed the increase in petroleum and power prices ‘anti-poor’ and said the caretaker government had no right to take such major decisions.

He demanded withdrawal of the petroleum price hike and said the newly-elected government would have to take some decisions to end inflation. Former PML-N MNA Malik Shakil Awan said the petroleum price hike would increase the monthly budget of the common man. He said it would also have a negative effect on the industry and would send prices of different products skyrocketing.

It would negatively affect transportation charges, electricity fuel adjustment charges, maintenance cost and production expenses, he added.

Syed Zameer Shah, an educationist, described the increase as an anti-farmer measure and said it would ruin the farming sector.

He said farmers were already facing financial crunch due to shortage of irrigation water and high prices of agricultural inputs. He said the POL price hike would also enhance the monthly expenses of farmers, especially those using tractors and tube wells.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2018