ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has asked the opposition parties not to do politics on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as it is a national emergency and all the stakeholders will have to work collectively to defeat the virus.
In his remarks on the floor of the Senate in Islamabad on Tuesday, the foreign minister expressed the optimism to collectively surmount the challenge posed by the Coronavirus.
The foreign minister said that the national strategy against the contagion has been chalked out after taking inputs from all the federating units. He said that the National Coordination Committee (NCC) and National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) have been established to accommodate the inputs of the provinces.
Foreign Minister @SMQureshiPTI explicates upon the government’s policy in tackling coronavirus and the situation arising out of it; how day to day meetings are conducted to coordinate efforts on Federal and Provincial level.
— Senate of Pakistan (@SenatePakistan) May 12, 2020
Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Prime Minister Imran Khan daily holds meetings and give directions to cope with the current situation.
The minister said that we have to protect the people from the Coronavirus, poverty, and starvation. He said that it will take time to flatten the curve of the virus.
Participating in the discussion, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Sherry Rehman said that national unity is need of the hour to deal with the unprecedented challenge posed by Coronavirus.
Sherry Rehman said that given the current situation, the focus of the next budget should be shifted to the safety and protection of the people.
Senator @sherryrehman observes that there is a need of having a uniform policy across the country and a message of national unity should come from the federal and provincial governments.
— Senate of Pakistan (@SenatePakistan) May 12, 2020
While taking part in the debate, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Senator Musadik Masood Malik said that the lockdown needs to be extended till Eid-ul-Fitr and then according to the nature and spread of the virus in different areas the country should be divided into green, yellow and red zones.
Senator Mushtaq Ahmed observed that around 60 percent of the businesses registered with Pakistan Stock Exchange are at a halt and remaining 40 percent are also having limited work.
Earlier, initiating discussion in Senate, the Leader of Opposition Raja Zafar-ul-Haq said that the federal and provincial governments should be on the same page to contain the spread of the Coronavirus.
