ISLAMABAD / LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif on Monday contacted heads of other opposition parties, including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and formally invited them to attend a video multi-party conference (MPC) on Tuesday on the issue of spread of coronavirus in the country.

Talking to Dawn, PML-N information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said besides Mr Bhutto-Zardari, the PML-N president spoke to Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Awami National Party (ANP) president Asfandyar Wali, Qaumi Watan Paty (QWP) chief Aftab Sherpao and Pakhtun­khwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai.

Besides these opposition leaders, Mr Sharif also contacted the head of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) Sardar Akhtar Mengal, whose party is a part of the ruling coalition, headed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Ms Aurangzeb said the MPC would be held on Tuesday in the afternoon and all leaders of the opposition parties would participate in it through the video conference facility.

Ms Aurangzeb said the main purpose of the MPC is "to provide guideline to the government and to correct it where it is wrong to deal with coronavirus situation”.

“If we invite the government, then the purpose of the MPC would be defeated,” she claimed.

Mr Sharif said that timely decisions on Covid-19 could help save lives of the people.

Mr Sharif, she said, praised the Sindh government and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah for better handling the pandemic in Sindh.

She said that both Mr Bhutto-Zardari and Mr Wali welcomed Mr Sharif’s decision of convening the MPC.

On arrival in Lahore from London on Sunday, the PML-N president had offered services of hospitals run by the Sharif family to the government to set up quarantine facilities for coronavirus patients. He said his family was ready to offer all health facilities of the Sharif group to serve as quarantine centres.

“As the nation celebrates the Pakistan Day and pays its homage to founding fathers, there could be no greater relevance of the message of the day then it is today. We must emerge as one nation to defeat Covid-19. High time we revive the spirit that marked our freedom struggle,” Mr Sharif said in a tweet.

When Mr Sharif took the initiative on his own to convene the MPC, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in line with the decision of the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) also contacted a number of politicians on Monday for the same purpose.

According to a handout issued by the PPP Media Centre, the PPP chairman “phoned” leaders of PML-N, JUI-F, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), PML-Q, BNP-M and ANP.

Besides talking to Mr Sharif, the PPP chairman also talked to Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and Federal Minister for Information Technology Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui of MQM.

While talking to leaders of these political parties, the PPP leader said that all political parties should come on the same page on the issue of fighting coronavirus in the country.

“The political leaders agreed with Mr Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to convene the MPC over the video link on coronavirus,” the PPP press release said, without mentioning if the party would hold another MPC or it was the same MPC being hosted by the PML-N on Tuesday.

Speaker’s meeting

In a related development, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has also convened a meeting of all parliamentary leaders in the National Assembly and the Senate on Wednesday at the Parliament House.

A spokesman for the speaker said that the meeting had been convened to discuss and constitute a parliamentary committee on coronavirus and its impact on the economy.

The speaker already established contacts with heads and parliamentary leaders by telephone and the Senate chairman already suggested names from the upper house of parliament for inclusion in the proposed parliamentary committee.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2020