Petroleum Dealers and Government Talks Fail, Nationwide Strike Call Remains Firm
ISLAMABAD: A deadlock has set in between government and the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) as they fail to reach any agreement and the dealers are not willing to withdraw from their strike call.
The government will not rescind its policy on the day-to-day pricing of petroleum products, petroleum dealers said. Its development comes after a marathon five-hour meeting between a delegation of PPDA and the Ministry of Petroleum that concluded without a resolution on the call off of the strike. The Petroleum Minister also voiced discontent about the ultimatum given by the dealers of 72 hours, sources said.
In the negotiations, the government had given a hike of Rs1.34 per litre in profit margins of the petroleum dealers with the condition of formal approval from the federal cabinet.
The petroleum dealers then decided to come back to Karachi as soon as possible and convened an emergency meeting of the executive committee. The PPDA has also stated that it will stick to its plans for the strike to start Saturday morning.