KARACHI: Stressing the need for rising above the political differences for the sake of the country, Pak Sarzameen Party chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal urged Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday to contact major opposition parties and take them along in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at a press conference at his party’s Pakistan House headquarters, he said that unity was the need of the hour to deal with the challenge as the current lockdown measures could not be extended forever.

He said the PM should have sat with all chief ministers to evolve a consensus strategy to mitigate economic, financial and other losses due to the extreme measure of lockdown.

“Our worries increase when the prime minister says one thing and chief ministers say another,” he said, adding that the row between the government and the opposition must be ended now.

He said Prime Minister Khan should pick up the phone and call Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali to send a strong message that everyone was on the same page against the pandemic.

‘Use LG representatives instead of Tiger Force’

He said that at present no coordinated plan was seen at the government level to carry out relief activities and provide handouts in an organised manner to deserving persons.

He said the prime minister had announced a ‘Tiger Force’ for carrying out relief activities. He said that it appeared to be a political force and it’s time to set aside political issues to deal with the challenge.

Mr Kamal, who was the first to demand activation of thousands of local government representatives across the country to distribute rations among the deserving people, said that instead of creating the ‘Tiger Force’, nearly 150,000 councillors should be tasked to carry out relief work.

“My request is to use the local government set-up for doing the relief work,” he said, adding that LG representatives worked at the grassroots level and a chairman of a union committee/council knew the people and the situation on ground well.

He said that PSP workers were ready to work under the chairmen of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-controlled district municipal corporations (DMCs). He asked activists of other political parties to also carry out relief work under the command of the district chairmen in a coordinated way.

The PSP chief said that collecting relief goods and then distributing them among the needy persons was not an easy job, but the PSP was taking all-out measures to work for the people in all districts of Sindh, including Karachi, Balochistan and other areas without hurting their dignity.

“Our workers have started providing rations on a self-help basis and they are doing whatever they can under the present circumstances,” he said, adding that his party had decided the very first day that it would conduct relief work without any publicity or taking photographs of providing handouts to the needy people.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2020