ISLAMABAD: The federal government has approached the opposition parties for a joint strategy against coronavirus, with National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser summoning a meeting of the parliamentary leaders of Senate and Lower House to discuss the economic situation and coronavirus cases.
NA Speaker Asad Qaiser has called a meeting of parliamentary leaders at Parliament House on March 25 to review the role of the parliament for containing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. The government on Sunday started approaching the opposition leadership for talks in a bid to put political differences aside and devise a joint strategy to fight coronavirus.
Qaiser also telephoned the Leader of the Opposition Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on his return to Pakistan and commended him for returning home to join the struggle against the coronavirus with all political leadership in this critical time.
Both politicians discussed the present state of the coronavirus spread and its impact on the economy of the country.
Qaiser informed Shehbaz about the establishment of Parliamentary Committee on Coronavirus. He said that the committee will monitor the steps of the government and forward its suggestions to the government. He said that a loud message needs to be sent to the people that their leadership was standing side by side with them. He asked him for giving the names of his party’s representatives for the parliamentary committee so that it could start functioning.
Shahbaz hailed the speaker’s efforts to unite political leadership in this difficult time. “We need to think beyond politics to tackle the coronavirus being a global epidemic,” he said.
He also said that they have to take every step thoughtfully. “Coronavirus has destroyed thousands of human lives in the world and it has hit the world economy very seriously. Our country is already facing economic challenges, therefore, adoption of a joint approach to address the detriments to the economy,” he added.
He further said that whenever the difficult times have come upon the nation, all political leadership had stood firm with the nation.
