Ex-PM Abbasi takes a swipe at PTI govt over coronavirus response

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday slammed the PTI government, saying it had no concrete plan to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking on the floor of the house, Abbasi said: “The prime minister said he would not impose a lockdown because the poor and daily wagers would suffer. He then stated the lockdown had been enforced by the elite. Who are these elite.

“The day the prime minister said he would not impose a lockdown, there was a curfew in front of his own house,” he said.

Abbasi said that the lockdown was actually announced by the provinces.

“Where is the federal government’s decision about the lockdown? It was the provinces’ decision to enforce lockdowns.”

The PML-N leader added that the public needs to know if there is a lockdown in the country or not.

“The public needs to know the government’s strategy. Just today the government threatened again that if the public does not follow safety precautions, the lockdown will be enforced once again in the country.”

“There is no need to be afraid of criticism,” Abbasi said, adding that the prime minister had so far addressed the nation 12 times but no strategy had been presented.

“In every address, the prime minister said there would be no lockdown, then he says there will be an ease in the lockdown. It seems like the prime minister and the ministers say one thing, but there is something completely different happening in the country,” Abbasi remarked.

“If the federal cabinet did not decide on the lockdown, where did the smart lockdown come from,” he wondered.

“There is no plan and no lockdown in Pakistan. We have become a laughing stock in the world, everyone is laughing at the House because of this,” he added.