Centre allowed coronavirus to spread: Bilawal
PPP chairman calls APC on pandemic and NFC constitution
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. PHOTO: BILAWAL/ INSTAGRAM
KARACHI:
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday launched a scathing on Prime Minister Imran Khan, holding him responsible for the worsening coronavirus situation in the country and announced holding an all-parties conference in Sindh and Punjab on the pandemic and the constitution of the 10th National Finance Commission.
He also lashed out at the federal government for its decision to sack Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) employees and strategy to deal with the locust invasion.
“He [PM Imran] surrendered on the issue of coronavirus from day one just like he did on Kashmir,” the scion of the Bhutto dynasty said while addressing a news conference along with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah in Karachi.
“If the rights decisions would have been made, we too would have been reopening our markets and businesses after becoming coronavirus-free like in New Zealand and Vietnam,” he added.
“It’s tragic that the country is in a situation where neither can it protect itself from the virus, nor save its economy.”
He said the prime minister in his televised address a day earlier had told citizens that coronavirus could not be stopped from spreading and they had to live with it.
“The virus hasn’t spread. It has been [deliberately] spread. It has spread to Lahore, Peshawar and other major cities. We [Sindh government] tried to prevent this from happening, but our efforts were sabotaged at every level,” Bilawal maintained.
“If the federal government isn’t willing to work to contain the viral outbreak, it should at let the provinces work. We will continue working to curb the spread of the disease despite the Centre’s attempts to jeopardise our efforts.”
The PPP chairman pointed out that that Covid-19 death rate in the country was higher than that in India. “Our hospitals have run out of space for patients. Someone has to be held responsible for this. The doctors in Punjab held a news conference yesterday about the situation. If you don't want to listen to me, at least listen to the doctors,” he added, claiming that the federal government was playing with statistics.
Bilawal also questioned the federal government’s decision to sack 9,000 employees of the PSM, vowing to challenge it at every forum.
"You want to render thousands of PSM employees jobless amid this pandemic. It is against humanity and justice. We condemn it and won’t abandon the employees.”
Speaking on the constitution of the NFC, the PPP chairman demanded immediate withdrawal of the notification for formation of the commission.
“We think this is a very serious issue. The federation is not willing to do anything but the provinces are constantly paying taxes to it,” he maintained.
“What message are you sending by putting Azad Jammu and Kashmir in the NFC notification? Are you calling it a province? We object to this because it is a state and the federation is responsible for meeting its financial needs. That’s; why the provinces pay taxes to the federation,” he added.
“Similarly, Gilgit-Baltistan is also not a province and is the responsibility of the state. We demand that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan should be given their due rights.”
Bilawal also accused the federal government of turning a blind eye to the issue of the locust invasion. “It will be an irreparable loss to our agriculture. It is the responsibility of the federation to deal with this matter. We need your support for food security. We have to stand with our farmers.”
The PPP chairman said the federal government had not conducted aerial spraying to stop the invasion. “Along with coronavirus, food security will also become a major issue.”
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday launched a scathing on Prime Minister Imran Khan, holding him responsible for the worsening coronavirus situation in the country and announced holding an all-parties conference in Sindh and Punjab on the pandemic and the constitution of the 10th National Finance Commission.
He also lashed out at the federal government for its decision to sack Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) employees and strategy to deal with the locust invasion.
“He [PM Imran] surrendered on the issue of coronavirus from day one just like he did on Kashmir,” the scion of the Bhutto dynasty said while addressing a news conference along with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah in Karachi.
“If the rights decisions would have been made, we too would have been reopening our markets and businesses after becoming coronavirus-free like in New Zealand and Vietnam,” he added.
“It’s tragic that the country is in a situation where neither can it protect itself from the virus, nor save its economy.”
He said the prime minister in his televised address a day earlier had told citizens that coronavirus could not be stopped from spreading and they had to live with it.
“The virus hasn’t spread. It has been [deliberately] spread. It has spread to Lahore, Peshawar and other major cities. We [Sindh government] tried to prevent this from happening, but our efforts were sabotaged at every level,” Bilawal maintained.
“If the federal government isn’t willing to work to contain the viral outbreak, it should at let the provinces work. We will continue working to curb the spread of the disease despite the Centre’s attempts to jeopardise our efforts.”
The PPP chairman pointed out that that Covid-19 death rate in the country was higher than that in India. “Our hospitals have run out of space for patients. Someone has to be held responsible for this. The doctors in Punjab held a news conference yesterday about the situation. If you don't want to listen to me, at least listen to the doctors,” he added, claiming that the federal government was playing with statistics.
Bilawal also questioned the federal government’s decision to sack 9,000 employees of the PSM, vowing to challenge it at every forum.
"You want to render thousands of PSM employees jobless amid this pandemic. It is against humanity and justice. We condemn it and won’t abandon the employees.”
Speaking on the constitution of the NFC, the PPP chairman demanded immediate withdrawal of the notification for formation of the commission.
“We think this is a very serious issue. The federation is not willing to do anything but the provinces are constantly paying taxes to it,” he maintained.
“What message are you sending by putting Azad Jammu and Kashmir in the NFC notification? Are you calling it a province? We object to this because it is a state and the federation is responsible for meeting its financial needs. That’s; why the provinces pay taxes to the federation,” he added.
“Similarly, Gilgit-Baltistan is also not a province and is the responsibility of the state. We demand that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan should be given their due rights.”
Bilawal also accused the federal government of turning a blind eye to the issue of the locust invasion. “It will be an irreparable loss to our agriculture. It is the responsibility of the federation to deal with this matter. We need your support for food security. We have to stand with our farmers.”
The PPP chairman said the federal government had not conducted aerial spraying to stop the invasion. “Along with coronavirus, food security will also become a major issue.”