The negotiations between the federal government and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) over the petroleum levy and relief for ordinary consumers reached what JI is calling their final stage on Tuesday, 3 November 2026 — but no final agreement has been announced yet, and conflicting accounts of the day's meeting leave the outcome uncertain.
The two sides met in Islamabad at the Foreign Office, in the office of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. The government team included Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Rana Sanaullah, while the JI delegation was led by acting emir Liaquat Baloch, along with Syed Farasat Shah and Engineer Nasrullah Randhawa.
After the meeting, Liaquat Baloch told reporters that the talks had reached their culminating stage. He said the government had acknowledged that JI's demands for public relief and the removal of the petroleum levy were valid, and that the two sides had agreed on relief for the agriculture sector, public transport and certain categories of vehicles, including 1000cc cars. According to Baloch, the government will complete its working on the issue tonight, JI will finalise its side tomorrow, and a joint working paper will then be prepared.
The Foreign Office, in its own statement, struck a more cautious note. It said the two sides held candid discussions on practical measures to give relief to the common man, with a specific focus on easing the burden on low-income citizens facing rising energy costs, and agreed to continue consultations over the coming days to work out a way forward on petroleum pricing and public relief.
Other reports from the same day were less optimistic. ARY News, citing sources, reported that the round ended without progress because the government was not ready to end the petroleum levy, and that the government side pointed to international oil prices, which it said were rising. The JI team, according to that report, went into session after the meeting to prepare a briefing for JI emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, who will announce the party's future course of action after reviewing the final draft.
That decision matters because JI has kept its main pressure tactic on the table throughout. Baloch has repeatedly warned that if the negotiations fail to deliver relief on energy tariffs and fuel taxes, the party will go ahead with its planned long march from Multan to Islamabad in mid-November. The march was postponed earlier after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif contacted the JI leadership and invited the party to talks, following JI's nationwide protest campaign and its six demands.
For now, then, the position is this: the talks are described as being in their final stage, a working paper is due to be prepared, and relief for farmers, public transport and small cars is on the table — but the levy itself has not been abolished, no final deal has been signed, and the long march warning still stands. The next announcement, from Hafiz Naeemur Rehman after the working paper is reviewed, will show whether this round ends in relief or in protest.
Hukumat aur Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) ke darmiyan petroleum levy aur awam ko relief dene par muzakaarat Tuesday, 3 November 2026 ko aakhri marhale mein pahunch gaye hain — lekin abhi tak koi hatmi muahida nahi hua, aur mulaqat ke baare mein mukhtalif khabrein aa rahi hain.
Dono fareeqon ki mulaqat Islamabad mein Foreign Office mein Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar ke daftar mein hui. Hukumat ki team mein Dar, Ahsan Iqbal aur Rana Sanaullah shamil thay, jabke JI ki wafad ki qayadat Liaquat Baloch kar rahe thay, unke saath Syed Farasat Shah aur Nasrullah Randhawa thay.
Mulaqat ke baad Liaquat Baloch ne bataya ke baat-cheet aakhri marhale mein hai. Unke mutabiq hukumat ne JI ke mutalbaat ko durust tasleem kiya hai, aur zaraat, public transport aur chhoti gaariyon (1000cc tak) ke liye relief par ittefaq hua hai. Baloch ke mutabiq hukumat aaj raat apna kaam mukammal karegi, JI kal apni taraf se final karegi, aur phir mushtarika working paper tayyar hoga.
Foreign Office ke bayan mein ehtiyat bhara lehja tha: aam aadmi, khaas tor par kam aamdani wale logon ke liye relief par khuli guftagu hui, aur aane wale dinon mein mazeed mashawrat jari rakhne par ittefaq hua.
Dusri taraf ARY News ne zaraye ke hawale se khabar di ke ye dor baghair pesh-raft khatam hua, kyunke hukumat levy khatam karne par tayyar nahi, aur hukumat ka kehna tha ke petrol ki qeematein international market par munhasir hain. JI ki team mulaqat ke baad apne Ameer Hafiz Naeemur Rehman ko briefing dene ke liye baithi, jo working paper ka jaiza le kar party ka agla laeha-e-amal elaan karenge.
Agar relief na mila to JI ka long march — Multan se Islamabad, November ke wast mein — abhi bhi table par hai. Ye march pehle Prime Minister se rabte ke baad multawi hua tha. Ab sab ki nazrein working paper aur Hafiz Naeemur Rehman ke elaan par hain: relief milega ya ehtijaj hoga.
Sources: Business Recorder, 24NewsHD, Aaj English, ARY News, Dunya News, The Nation, Foreign Office statement.
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