PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
“The basic issue is capacity and seriousness to fight and win this challenge. At one end the coronavirus is taking lives, while at the other people’s livelihoods are at stake,” he was quoted as saying by the PML-N’s media office during a consultative meeting with the country’s business community on Thursday.
Shehbaz discussed the state of the virus in the country and heard the community’s suggestions and proposals on how to deal with the situation. They, according to the media office, praised Shehbaz’s decision of holding the meeting and gather “one of the hardest-hit section at this point”.
They said that such interactive consultative meetings provide an opportunity to voice the community’s most pressing issues and proposals to the power corridors.
The federal government on Wednesday extended the country-wide lockdown till April 14 as part of its efforts to stem the spread of the virus. New timings for markets and the idea of social distancing have affected the business activities in the country just like across the world. However, the government has also announced a relief package to bear the burden.
“I am aware and deeply concerned over the wide-scale impact of the restrictive measures on the business community. But the containment of the spread of the disease is unavoidable,” Shehbaz said, adding that the PML-N seeks to put together a charter of demand by the business community.
Shehbaz, who is also the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, said that there is no room for politics over such a challenge of “national survival under a global pandemic”. The PML-N believes that there is a need for uniting as a nation to fight the outbreak.
He claimed that the situation was quite better when the PML-N was ruling the government. The PML-N president further lauded his government’s last tenure where they managed to boost the country’s growth rate to 5.8 per cent.
Through effective planning, Pakistan can plan ahead and prepare to meet the challenges that face us in the wake of the outbreak, he added. “I have repeatedly told the government to lower the policy rate further and bring down petrol prices to Rs70 per litre otherwise the exports could be cut by as much as 50 per cent,” Shehbaz said.
The opposition leader thanked the business community and chambers for their feedback. The proposals would be compiled into an “actionable agenda” to be proposed to the government, he told the visitors.
During such testing times, he said every section of the society – including the industrialists, traders, shopkeepers right down to the worker and labourers – needs to be taken care of.
“I believe that the suggestions, strategy and implementation mechanism proposed by the PML-N can help the government,” he said and prayed to God Almighty to help the nation win this fight against the deadly virus.
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