The Multi-Party Conference (MPC) of Punjab called by the Pakistan People’s Party has demanded immediate restoration of the local bodies of the p
rovince to figh
t the COVID-19 in the p
rovince, while rejecting the PM’s idea of establishing the ‘Tiger Force’.
The MPC was called by the p
rovincial chapter of PPP that was chaired by Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira while other parties including the PML-N, PML-Q, Jamat-e-Islami, JUI-F, ANP, Awami Workers Party, Brabri Party and Left Front also participated in it through the video link. The MPC also issued a unanimous charter of demand while also giving suggestions to the governme
nt to contain the outbreak of Corona pandemic.
As per the details, Qamar Zaman Kaira said tha
t the Prime Minister and his whole team failed miserably in this time of crisis as government couldn’t take timely measures to contain the epidemic. The MPC demanded that all the local bodies of the Punjab must be restored immediately while local level committees should be constituted to figh
t the COVID-19 as was done by the Sindh government. Kaira was of the view tha
t the Punjab government doesn’t have any relief mechanism for the poor people of the p
rovince during this hard time. The federal government is trying to give a wrong impression tha
t the Sindh government imposed a ban on the goods transporters as there is no such ban on the items related to the food and medicine, he said. Speaking in the MPC through video link, PML-N Punjab President and MNA Rana Sanaullah said tha
t the COVID-19 i
s spreading rapidly here due to the incompetency of both the federal and p
rovincial government. “It is the responsibility of the governme
nt to show its performance and the opposition’s job is to highlight th
e deficiencies of the government and we are just doing our job by pointing ou
t the loopholes here,” said Rana Sanaullah Khan of PML-N.
The Parliamentary Leader of PPP in Punjab MPA Syed Hassan Murtaza said tha
t the ruling PTI was also invited in this MPC but it avoided attending it. “The Speaker Punjab Assembly should immediately call the assembly session through video link or he should at least call the meeting of parliamentary leaders of Punjab to apprise them regarding the measures being taken by the Punjab governme
nt to contain the pandemic,” said PPP leader Hassan Murtaza. The MPC issued an eleven point resolution after the meeting while twenty four suggestions were also given by the joint opposition of the Punjab. It said tha
t the stunts like establishing the tiger force will further divide the nation instead of uniting the people in this crisis.
The MPC demanded tha
t the testing at mass level must be conducted in Punjab to ascertain the actual figure in the p
rovince and the government must not conceal the facts related to the pandemic. It further added tha
t the 20,000 rupees should be given to deserving families of the Punjab during the lockdown. It was also decided tha
t the MPC of opposition will remain continue during the pandemic and the next meeting will be hosted by the PML-N in few days. The MPC was attended by PPP’s Qamar Zaman Kaira, Ch Manzoor, Aslam Gill, MPA Syed Hassan Murtaza, PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah, Awais Laghari, Atta ullah Tarar, Jamaat-e-Islami’s p
rovincial Amir Javed Qasuri, PML-Q’s Senator Kamil Agha and p
rovincial heads of ANP, JUI-F and AWP.