Shahbaz needs to step up to the plate

In a nation where the media, civil society and, to some extent, the intelligentsia lap up conspiracy theories readily, where every incident is attributed to the three As (Allah, Army and America), where an unsigned document threatens the stability of an elected government, the latest gaffe from Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif takes the cake.

Sharif, under pressure from the Opposition, whilst brandishing a report from a UK laboratory laid the blame for the contaminated drugs being handed out at the PIC on a conspiracy hatched by some ‘aala shakhsiyat’ in Islamabad. No prizes for guessing who that would be.

Sharif brings up conspiracy theories at the drop of a hat. Remember when dengue fever was playing havoc in the province, the chief minister had hinted at a conspiracy against the Punjab.

Can a political opponent really alter the chemical composition of a drug to play games? Not a very convincing argument.

On Thursday, Leader of the Opposition Raja Riaz demanded that Sharif name the person who had hatched this conspiracy.

Will the failure of the countless schemes that have been initiated by the chief minister also be blamed on political opponents? And who is to blame for the 14 departments without ministers? Sharifs’ opponents again? To this date, the chief minister has not appointed a health minister.

On Monday, Sharif is to answer more questions about the PIC fiasco. We would like to know who contracted the drug company that supplied the contaminated drug? Why did the doctors take so long to figure out what was happening? Why does the province not have a single decent laboratory to detect contamination? Hopefully, Sharif will have answers and a clear timeline for action.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2012.