Opposition slams fuel price surge

Opposition parties including the PTI and the JI on Friday reacted sharply to the latest "unjustified" hike in petroleum prices. The former announced holding an all-parties conference (APC) and the latter threatened to launch a street movement. The government on Thursday increased the petrol price by Rs137 per litre, or 43%, to a historic high of Rs458.4 after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to impose more taxes on consumers due to a fuel crisis amid a war in the Persian Gulf. At a press conference held at the Lahore Press Club, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja rejected the government's stance that the increase was driven by regional instability. Calling for public mobilisation, the PTI leader urged citizens to take to the streets against inflation and poverty. "We must decide as a nation that we will no longer tolerate oppression. This crisis has affected all of us, and we must come out together," he said. Addressing a press conference at Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan also announced that it will convene an APC with like-minded political parties to formulate a joint response. "The government policies are severely affecting ordinary citizens, particularly low-income groups and farmers. The increase in petroleum prices is unjustified and implemented without taking Parliament into confidence," he added. He further criticised potential constitutional changes, warning that "new amendments will be used to further squeeze the public," and reiterated his belief that "change is inevitable," though he stopped short of giving a timeline. Meanwhile, JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman also condemned the fuel price hike, linking it to broader structural issues in governance and taxation. Addressing a public gathering at Mansoorah in Lahore, he said the government had effectively dropped a "petrol bomb" on the people instead of reducing its own expenditures. "Not only have fuel prices increased, but taxes have also been raised. The burden is falling disproportionately on the poor," he said, adding that daily wage earners and students were already paying significant indirect taxes.