Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Information Minister Shibli Faraz has called out the opposition for not attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on the Coronavirus Disease, scheduled for today.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting, the information minister said that the opposition had demonstrated its “irresponsible” attitude by not showing up.
He stated that it was the government’s job to take all parties on board to forge a way forward for tackling the country’s Covid-19 outbreak.
“The purpose [of the meeting] is not for political point-scoring. It is to battle the pandemic. It is sad that the opposition has once again shown its irresponsibility […]. By not participating, they have shown that they don’t trust the parliament.” Earlier, Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz on Wednesday said that no member from the Opposition parties attended the Parliamentary Committee meeting on Coronavirus chaired by National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser at the Parliament House.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Shibli Faraz said the opposition leaders were missing in the meeting. “They attended previous four meetings and submitted suggestions to contain coronavirus spread. We implemented those important recommendations.”
“Today’s meeting was attended by PTI lawmakers and coalition partners. The intention behind this meeting was to reach a consensus on strategy to contain the rising spread of Covid-19 in the country.”
Terming opposition parties’ boycott of the meeting as ‘irresponsible’, Faraz said the current situation concerns the entire country in terms of economy, population and health.
“Boycotting a meeting on the country’s health and economic situation is not a good decision,” he added. “We expect the opposition to cooperate with the government and not politicise the pandemic.”“Our strategy to limit infections during the first wave has been commended by the world. And now that we are experiencing the second wave, we need to strategise again. This is not to score points.”
