Lawmakers play blame game in NA over Covid-19.

Byline: Amir Wasim

ISLAMABAD -- LawmaAkers on Wednesday turned the National Assembly debate on the Covid-19 pandemic into a political point-scoring match as members on both sides of the aisle kept on hurling allegations and counter-allegations during more than six-hour-long proceedings of the house.

While sticking to their respective party positions, almost all lawmakers delivered political speeches in which they even targeted each other's leadership and passed some personal remAarks forcing Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri to expunge them from the proceedings.

The house witnessed ruckus on a couple of occasions when members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) protested against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Raja Pervez Ashraf's remarks terming them 'rented soldiers' and later when the PPP members protested over the use of objectionable words against party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MNA from Karachi Faheem Khan.

The PTI MNA actually responded to similar remarks passed by PPP MNA Abdul Qadir Patel about PM Khan and Communications Minister Murad Saeed.

Mr Ashraf took exception to Sheikh Salahuddin's remarks about Mr Bhutto-Zardari.

'Yesterday, you were sitting with us and speaking for us. Today, you are part of the present government. You are rented soldiers,' said Mr Ashraf prompting a noisy protest by MQM lawmakers.

The treasury members lashed out at the opposition parties for their 'undue criticism' of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the PTI government whereas opposition lawmakers accused government members of intentionally spoiling the atmosphere through their provocative speeches to hide their 'incompetence and failure' in handling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Ashraf took exception to the opening speech of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the house on Monday and termed his outburst against the PPP and the Sindh government uncalled for.

When the opposition targeted the prime minister for not attending the session, the treasury members reminded them that Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif came back to the country from the UK to take part in the nation's war against coronavirus, but now he was unwilling to come out of his home on the pretext of medical grounds.

The other issue on which the two sides confronted each other was the imposition of the lockdown.

The opposition members were of the view that the government had failed to come out with a 'national strategy' to fight the pandemic and it did not...