Floods: PPP, PML-N spar over policies

LAHORE:

The PPP has urged the federal government to seek reparations and compensation from developed nations for climate change–driven disasters, rather than mere international aid.

PPP Central Punjab General Secretary Syed Hasan Murtaza said that Pakistan is bearing the financial brunt of a crisis caused by the industrialized world's unchecked development, yet the PMLN-led government is shying away from reaching out internationally due to its lack of credibility.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Murtaza argued that Pakistan, as one of the worst victims of climate change, must remind the West of its obligations.

"Why should we bear the cost of someone else's wrongdoing?" he asked, adding that even if the government fears rejection, it must still educate the world about Pakistan's plight.

Earlier, PPP leaders including Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed, Faisal Mir, and Murtaza addressed a press conference at the Peoples Secretariat in Model Town.

They accused the government of mishandling the crisis—delaying the emergency declaration, withholding appeals for international support, and ignoring the plight of victims in Punjab, where floodwaters have destroyed vast tracts of land along the Sutlej, Chenab, and Ravi rivers.

"Three Punjab budgets won't be enough to repair this devastation," Manzoor said, noting that crops were buried under several feet of sand and entire tehsils submerged.

They demanded cash assistance for victims through revenue records, compensation for farmers, and six months of electricity bill waivers, dismissing the government's one-month concession as a "joke."

The PPP leaders also criticized the government for shutting down food-security institutions like the Agricultural Bank, Pasco, and utility stores.

The PPP's Sindh government, they claimed, had provided 2.1 million houses to flood victims, whereas Punjab's mismanagement had left people destitute. "Natural disasters cannot be stopped, but mismanagement can be," Murtaza said, describing the floods as the worst he had seen in his life.

The press conference triggered a sharp response from Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari, who mocked the PPP's stance, recalling its poor handling of the 2022 floods in Sindh.

She said the Punjab government, under Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, was using its own resources to help the affected, without seeking federal or foreign aid. "Our focus is public service. We will not be distracted by the PPP's fake philosophies and failed theories," she said.

Bukhari further argued that there had been no significant loss of life or property in Sindh during the current floods, questioning the PPP's demand for international compensation. She accused the party of playing politics instead of serving its own flood-affected people.