PDM to be responsible if govt imposes complete lockdown: PM

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will be held responsible if the government is compelled to go into a complete lockdown in the country due to the second wave of the Coronavirus.

In a series of tweets on Sunday, Prime Minister Khan blamed the PDM for “deliberately endangering lives and livelihoods” by holding jalsas across the country with coronavirus cases in Pakistan on the rise.

“If [coronavirus] cases continue to rise at the rate we are seeing, we will be compelled to go into complete lockdown and the PDM will be responsible for [the] consequences,” he tweeted.

Khan, however, said that he would not grant the opposition parties an NRO even if they held “a million jalsas”.

Pakistan's second COVID 19 spike data is of concern: Increase in Covid patients on ventilators in last 15 days: Peshawar 200%, Multan 200%, Karachi 148%, Lahore 114%, Islamabad 65%. Multan & Isb Covid ventilators capacity utilisation 70%. Across the world there is a second spike

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 22, 2020

“Opposition is callously destroying people’s lives & livelihoods in their desperation to get an NRO. Let me make it clear: they can hold a million jalsas but will not get any NRO,” he tweeted.

However, the prime minister said he did not want to take the lockdown measure as it would hurt the economy and create problems for the people. He lashed out at the Opposition by saying that its “only goal is NRO at whatever cost to the lives of people & the country’s economy”.

“I do not want to take measures like a lockdown that will start hurting our economy which at the moment is showing signs of a robust recovery. Unfortunately, the Opposition’s only goal is NRO at whatever cost to the lives of people & the country’s economy,” he tweeted.