Awaam Pakistan President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday called on the government to deregulate petroleum prices and promote electric vehicles (EVs) to absorb the economic impact of rising oil prices amid the US-Israel war on Iran.

Since the February 28 strikes by the US and Israel on Iran triggered the war and pushed up global oil prices, fuel prices in Pakistan have reached record highs.

In two major hikes, petrol prices have risen from Rs266.17 to Rs378 — after a partial reduction in a recent hike — while those of high-speed diesel have surged from Rs280.86 to Rs520.35.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Abbasi said: “I would like to say two things: deregulate the petroleum prices — the government is not capable of handling it — and pay attention to electric vehicles (EVs), especially on motorcycles.”

“This amount keeps on increasing […] your system will function only if you incentivise EVs,” he added, citing China as an example of having policies to promote EVs.

The former prime minister also raised questions about some provinces’ decisions to make public transport free and distribute funds among certain groups.

He contended that “not even Rs20 billion out of the Rs200bn announced would reach” the public due to the high levels of corruption prevalent in government departments.

The Awaam Pakistan chief claimed the government adopted “five different policies” over the past month to determine oil prices, adding that it was better to deregulate the prices and leave them dependent on the market.

“This is the path Pakistan should take. There is no other way,” he said, recalling that the government had decided in 2018 that petroleum products in Pakistan would be deregulated.

“You are the government. You can counter hoarding; it is your responsibility. It does not mean hiking the prices in an untimely manner,” the former premier said.

He emphasised that there was a need to “express these faults and understand the issues facing the country today”, adding that it was the government’s job to formulate policies while keeping in mind the lasting impacts of the ongoing war.

Abbasi further pointed out that Pakistan had witnessed a “solar revolution” without the government’s interference.

“We always try to find whose fault it is,” Abbasi remarked, recalling that first, independent power producers (IPPs) were blamed for the electricity crisis, then the policy of net-metering was identified as the issue.

“The government changed the policy four times; they ended net-metering, then it was reintroduced. Why can’t you formulate a permanent policy? This is called elite capture,” he said.

On Thursday, the government announced an unprecedented increase of 43 per cent and 55pc in the prices of petrol and HSD, respectively, to cushion the impact of global oil price shocks amid the Middle East conflict.

The move was met with considerable backlash from the opposition PTI, with the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) warning of a nationwide protest movement if the hikes were not withdrawn.

On Friday night, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that the government was reducing the petrol levy by Rs80 per litre, after which the commodity would be available to end consumers for Rs378 per litre instead of Rs458 per litre.