Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders Dr Nafisa Shah, Senator Rubina Khalid and Nazir Dhoki have said the number of COVID-19 patients in Pakistan has topped 100,000 and the number of deaths has gone well over 2,000, but the prime minister is totally insensitive to the pandemic and he even refuses to wear mask before asking people to take precautionary measures against the fatal virus.
Addressing a press conference at the media centre in Islamabad on Sunday, the PPP leaders said the number of virus cases has doubled just in 10 days after easing of the lockdown on the orders of PM Imran Khan. Khan is not just the prime minister of Banigala; he is the prime minister of entire Pakistan and he should take everyone along after devising a unanimous policy. They said that Imran Khan is a divisive force in the country.
They said that Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability and Chairman of Assets Recovery Unit Shahzad Akbar has no legal authority to deal with accountability issues as NAB is supposed to be a free institution and the courts should take notice of his gibberish about accountability. They said that price hike is at an all-time high and inflation has touched 15% in the country.
The PPP leaders said the Covid-19 package has not been brought to the parliament so how the government will prepare its budget for the next fiscal year. No meeting of the health committee and finance committee of the parliament was held. They said that 9,300 employees of the Pakistan Steel Mills have been rendered jobless with a stroke of the pen but the PPP will fight till the end for the rights of the PSM employees.
They strongly condemned the “baseless” allegations levelled by a US citizen against the PPP leadership. Benazir Bhutto was the first woman prime minister of the Muslim world and US citizen Cynthia Ritchie's “concocted and baseless” accusations are a shameful act. She should be ashamed of her own accusations, they said.
All other PPP leaders will take legal action against her. They raised questions like: What type of visa has been issued to Cynthia and who has issued that visa and why? Who is financing and supporting her? They said that Cynthia Richie is a member of the PTI’s social media team.
The PPP leaders said that sugar commission’s report is meaningless as the main culprit has already fled the country. The main culprit and beneficiary of the sugar scandal is prime minister himself, they said.