Reporting snapshot · 18 September 2026. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal contacted JI Vice Emir Liaquat Baloch on the evening of 18 September and invited the party to another round of talks on Saturday. JI had not yet formally accepted when this article was published, and the party's 20 September march on Islamabad remained scheduled.
What happened
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal contacted Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Vice Emir Liaquat Baloch on the evening of Friday, 18 September 2026, and invited the party to another round of talks over its demand for the abolition of the petroleum levy, Dawn reported. The renewed outreach came as JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman finalised preparations for the party’s 20 September march on Islamabad against the levy.
According to JI, Iqbal invited the party’s negotiating committee, led by Baloch, to talks on Saturday, 19 September. Baloch said he would respond to the invitation after consulting the party chief and senior leadership. He made clear that the party’s protest movement would continue until the petroleum levy was abolished.
The contact was the latest in a months-long campaign by JI against the charge. A government delegation first travelled to Mansoora, the party’s headquarters in Lahore, to open negotiations, and four subsequent rounds were held in Islamabad, the last on Wednesday, 16 September, Dawn reported.
Why the outreach matters now
The timing is significant because JI has said its long march towards Islamabad will begin on 20 September — the day after the talks have been proposed. At a press conference in the federal capital on Friday, Rehman said the march would reach Islamabad on 23 and 24 September, with a train march leaving Karachi on 20 September and caravans arriving from all four directions. He said the party would not block roads: “We are coming to get relief, not to lay hands on anyone.” The government had been asked to grant permission for the demonstration, he said.
“Our only demand is to abolish the levy,” Rehman said, arguing that major political parties were not addressing the problems faced by ordinary Pakistanis. He said the government had agreed to demands during earlier negotiations but had not implemented them, and described the announced fuel relief package as insufficient.
The government has responded to the campaign with targeted relief rather than a reduction in the levy itself. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s scheme offers a Rs100-per-litre discount on petrol for motorcycles, rickshaws and vehicles up to 800cc, covering up to 20 litres a month for two- and three-wheelers and up to 30 litres for small cars. JI has rejected the package as a substitute for the levy’s abolition. “The government’s approach is to give relief to the people as charity, not their right,” Rehman said.
On the same day as the outreach, the Petroleum Division cut the pump price of petrol by Rs1.65 per litre and high-speed diesel by 88 paisas per litre for 19-21 September, leaving petrol at Rs389.14 and diesel at Rs424.04, The Express Tribune reported. The party has called such moves insufficient, arguing that relief on petrol alone ignores diesel, which it says drives the country’s economic activity.
The levy dispute
The petroleum levy has been the flashpoint of JI’s campaign for more than a month. The party announced sit-ins in provincial capitals from 16 August, called a nationwide strike for 3 September, and has since held demonstrations at dozens of locations. In talks that began on 7 September, JI presented six proposals centred on abolishing the levy, reducing fuel prices and restructuring agreements with independent power producers (IPPs), and the two sides agreed to continue negotiating alongside the protests.
JI’s demands have been consistent: abolish the petroleum levy outright, end what it calls non-productive capacity payments to IPPs and regasification plants, and fix the price of petrol at Rs225 per litre. Rehman has said the party would not close the door to dialogue, but that the government must come forward with concrete proposals. He has described peaceful protest as the party’s constitutional and democratic right and announced that the march would proceed unless the levy was addressed.
The government, for its part, has said it wants relief for the public but faces fiscal constraints. Officials have pointed to the levy as a significant source of revenue and to international oil price pressures as fuel costs rise amid Middle East tensions. The levy and related charges amount to roughly Rs80 per litre on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel, figures party and government officials have cited this month.
The larger protest calendar
The JI mobilisation is running alongside Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) long march towards Islamabad on 27 September demanding the release of Imran Khan. Rehman said JI was in contact with PTI and had supported its protests, while PTI supporters had backed JI’s planned march. The two movements converge on the capital within the same week, a security and administrative challenge for the federal government, which has reintroduced austerity and fuel-conservation measures — including reduced official fuel allocations and early business closing times — as elevated oil prices strain public finances.
The Islamabad High Court has also weighed in. In a detailed verdict published on 18 September, the court ruled that no party may occupy Islamabad’s roads or block citizens’ movement, and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said forces would stop any march that sought to do so. That ruling, delivered against the backdrop of PTI’s planned 27 September march, now also hangs over JI’s 20 September mobilisation.
What is still uncertain
The Saturday talks had not been confirmed by JI at the time of writing. Baloch said the party would decide after consulting its emir and senior leadership, and reiterated that the protest movement would continue until the levy was abolished. The government’s invitation is an opening move, not an agreement, and the history of the talks — five rounds without a breakthrough — suggests the two sides remain far apart.
Whether the talks take place, and whether they produce anything more than another postponement, will determine what happens on 20 September. JI has said it will not block roads and will not obstruct the Medical and Dental College Admission Test, which falls on the same day the march begins. But the party has also warned against “delaying tactics in the name of negotiations,” and Rehman has threatened to launch a movement to oust the government if the levy is not abolished. The scale of participation, the condition of the convoy routes, and the possibility of countervailing restrictions by authorities remain open questions.
The next 48 hours are therefore the test of whether dialogue can change the course of the mobilisation, or whether the march proceeds as announced.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 18 September 2026.
- Dawn — Govt reaches out to JI, invites party to another round of talks to break deadlock18 September 2026 · Primary account of the outreach: Ahsan Iqbal's contact with Liaquat Baloch, the invitation to Saturday talks, Baloch's response, the earlier rounds and JI's reiterated demands.
- Geo News — JI's long march to reach Islamabad on Sept 23-24, says Hafiz Naeem18 September 2026 · Independent report of Rehman's press conference: march dates, train march, no-road-block pledge, relief-scheme criticism and the MDCAT assurance.
- The Express Tribune — JI announces Sept 20 long march on Islamabad over petroleum levy11 September 2026 · Independent report of the march announcement, the "goon tax" language, the IMF claim and Rehman's warning of a movement to oust the government.
- The Express Tribune — Govt decreases petrol price by Rs1.65, HSD by 88 paisas till Sept 2118 September 2026 · Primary government notification report: the price cut effective 19 September and the fuel relief scheme figures.
