ISLAMABAD: While floodwaters head towards the Arabian Sea after inundating almost the entire country, political parties are racing ahead with plans to help survivors to rebuild their ruined lives and properties.
The latest addition is the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) which on Friday announced a three-pronged strategy to cope with the calamity.
“Broader political consensus is needed for the reconstruction of the flood hit areas to restore the trust deficit of the international community as well as the Pakistan people, over government’s performance,” said party Secretary-General Mushahid Hussain Syed.
Addressing a press conference at the PML House, Mushahid said that the government should immediately convene an All Parties Conference (APC) to evolve a consensus strategy.
He urged the government to demand from the world community to write-off all Pakistani foreign loans that stood at $54 billion.
“Already, foreign loans of some countries have been written off and Pakistan’s case is very strong due to its frontline role in the war against terror. There are examples of African nations and Haiti, whose loans were written off due to calamity situations,” he added.
“If Prime Minister Gilani was serious in helping the flood victims, he would have announced a concrete strategy by now to deal with the situation,” he lamented.
“The world community is ready to help in kind but not in cash due to the corrupt perception of our rulers. The state of affairs could be reflected by the fact that the president summoned a meeting of leading businessmen but they refused to attend as they did not believe in him,” he cautioned.
President PML-Q for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), Amir Muqam questioned the holding of independent donor’s conferences by provinces, saying seeking direct foreign aid from nations like India was dubious.
“The announcement by India to directly donate to K-P has sent a very wrong message across Pakistan. I think that foreign aid should be routed through the centre and no province should be allowed to seek foreign aid directly. This would bring anarchy and suspicions,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2010.
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