Islamabad, June 09, 2020: PPP Parliamentary Leader in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman said, “People are dying because of the irresponsible behaviour shown by the Federal government and PM Khan is still talking about how he is against a lockdown. This is the height of stubbornness and insensitivity. Unfortunately, crucial time has passed and now the follies of this government are going to cost us heavily.”
“Easing down the lockdown so the poor are not affected was just an excuse to hide behind. Saying that the lockdown has hurt the poor when the government is only concerned about big businesses is self-explanatory. The Government was consistently anti-lockdown and gave in to the demands of power lobbies. It never had a pro-poor strategy,” she added.
The Senator said, “Justifying opening up by saying rich countries are also opening up is ridiculous when they actually took the lockdown seriously and managed to flatten their curve. The only reason that Pakistan did well initially and did not suffer like America was because Sindh government took it seriously and came up with timely effective measures. Other provinces followed suit and this is what PM Khan did not like”.
“Why did the government open marriage halls, religious congregations, even tourism when every doctor in the country was warning against a surge?” she questioned.
Talking about the government’s messaging, she asked, “How can it be the responsibility of people when you are continuously giving mixed messages? The top-down confusion about the point of lockdowns/distancing has reduced public support for it as most have been conditioned to think of it as an indefinite imposition. If the public is thinking that it is common flu then it is because the Federal government created confusion by their mixed messaging, took no preventive measures, in fact hampered the ones being taken & now they are blaming the public for their incompetence”.
PPP Parliamentary Leader in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman concluded by saying that, “Had PPP opposed the lockdown then PM Khan would have ensured a lockdown for months. This is not the time for point scoring or reactive politics. Lives need to be saved and timely action is needed”.
