PM tells PDM to fight another day

Prime Minister Imran Khan urged the united opposition alliance on Thursday to postpone their rallies for a couple of months because of increasing coronavirus cases and growing pressure on hospitals, saying that the rallies would make no difference to government but would endanger people’s lives.

In the same breath, the prime minister admitted that the opposition’s rallies were creating a lot of problems for the government as different stakeholders had expressed reservations on the government’s strategy of closing down wedding halls, schools and restaurants but allowing political gatherings.

The prime minister spoke during a televised address ahead of an anti-government rally of the 11-opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), in Lahore on Sunday. Previously, the PDM held a rally in Multan on November 30.

The PDM launched its anti-government campaign in September and announced a schedule of six public gatherings, with the first being in Gujranwala on October 16. The last such rally is scheduled at Minar-e-Pakistan on December 13. However, the second wave of Covid-19 gripped the country in late October.

Imran “appealed” to the political parties to rethink their plan for holding further rallies, saying: “These rallies and demonstrations will not make any difference to the government but put the people’s lives in danger.”

Reminding the opposition of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s rallies in the past, Imran said no one had held bigger rallies than his party. “Who has held bigger rallies than us? What will happen because of these rallies, will they succeed in ousting the government?” he posed a question.

“People come close to one another when rallies are organised and it increases chances of the virus spread,” he said. “So, when we already know that the virus is spreading ... then these rallies can be held after two or three months so that we can save people’s lives,” he stressed.

On the other hand, the PDM appears to be in no mood to postpone its rallies. Hitherto, it has repeatedly ignored the government’s warnings and has said that it will hold the Lahore rally as per schedule. The alliance also accuses the government of using the virus as an excuse to suppress opposition’s voice.

During his televised speech, the prime minister shared the latest statistics of the number of beds occupied by Covid-19 patients across the country, especially, the cities where the PDM held its rallies in recent past.

He said that 64% of the beds allocated for coronavirus patients were now occupied in Multan, where the 11-party opposition alliance held a rally 10 days ago. He added that 40% of beds reserved for Covid-19 patients were also occupied in Peshawar, where PDM had staged a public gathering before Multan.

Revealing that approximately 50% of the beds were occupied in the federal capital, Imran said that the national average of Covid-19 beds currently occupied was around 40%. “The point of stating this is that coronavirus cases are increasing,” he said.

The prime minister contended that the entire world was facing problems in implementing the standard operating procedures (SOPs) during the second wave because people have become tired of following them. “Look at Europe, people are tired and resisting; they had enforced lockdown for a very long time.”

Imran expressed the fear coronavirus cases would increase in the winter season– resonating on ‘Winter is Coming’ warning in the famous medieval fantasy television series ‘Game of Thrones’. With the onset of winter, he said, it “will become more difficult” to curb the spread of the virus.

“Corona[virus] spreads ... more quickly when people are in rooms as opposed to when they are outside. So as the colder months progress, and people gather around heaters, chances of the virus spread will increase,” Imran said.

“Winter is coming ... we need to save our people. Otherwise, our health workers will be affected. It will put pressure on our hospitals and affect the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions,” the prime minister warned.

Earlier this year, Imran had hoped that Pakistan’s “hot and dry” weather would help mitigate the coronavirus outbreak but it did not happen. The common in both the statements, however, is he requested the citizens to wear mask, exercise social distancing and follow the SOPs.

“Covering face is the biggest SOPs one can follow,” he said, asking everyone to exercise caution. Expressing that Pakistan did much better in the first wave of the pandemic and was still doing far better than India and Iran, he said, “we have been blessed but now must help ourselves”.

Rallies will create “no pressure on the government” except increasing burden on the workers, doctors, nurses, hospitals and the elderly, he said, “and it is for the sake of these people I appeal to you to follow the SOPs”.