Pakistan: Political parties join protests over inflated-electricity bills

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 29 (ANI): Adding to the ongoing protest over inflated power bills, political party activists joined the common citizens in staging demonstrations in the provincial capital and other regions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reported The News International. 
The Awami National Party (ANP) staged a protest at the Bacha Khan Chowk.
Adding to this, ANP senior leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and former Member Provincial Assembly Samar Haroon Bilour addressed the protesters.
They further asked the government to provide relief to the people as they were suffering from inflation along with joblessness, reported The News International. 
Moreover, another protest was staged against the increased electricity bills outside the Peshawar Development Authority in Hayatabad. During the protest, the protestors chanted slogans against the government and power distribution companies. 
The protests were led by Imran Khan Salarzai, Nawab Khattak, Anwar Zaman and other political and religious leaders.
According to The News International, they added that the residents of Hayatabad township regularly pay their electricity bills and would not accept any unjust taxation on electricity bills. 
They further warned the government of launching a civil disobedience movement if the government did not stop the practice of collecting unjust taxes in bills, according to The News International. 
Furthermore, the speakers said that the power consumers cannot pay these inflated bills in their existing salaries or income. The power consumers should not be forced to recover the cost of government misspending, they added. 
Caretaker Information Minister of Pakistan, Murtaza Solangi, stated on Monday that the energy ministry has prepared recommendations to address the problem of exorbitant power bills, which has led to nationwide protests, and that they will be presented in the federal cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Dawn reported.
Since Saturday, a large number of people have protested in the streets over sky-high power bills as a result of a considerable increase in the national average price. Anwaarul Haq, the caretaker prime minister, was alerted to the outcry and called an "emergency" meeting for Sunday to address the matter.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced that another round of talks would take place Monday because yesterday's meeting had not yet produced a resolution, according to Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper.
Monday was the fourth day that protesters demonstrated against the outrageous bills by taking to the streets around the nation. Protests were held in Bhawalnagar, Layyah, and Lahore, according to Dawn. (ANI)