Pakistan's outbreak would've been worse had PPP or PML-N been in govt: Andleeb.

PTI member of the National Assembly (MNA) Andleeb Abbas on Wednesday lashed out at opposition parties for their undue criticism of Prime Minister Imran Khan's government, claiming that Pakistan's coronavirus situation "would have been worse if the PPP or PML-N were in power".

Speaking during the second sitting of a special NA session to discuss Pakistan's strategy against the pandemic, Abbas reminded everyone that both major opposition parties (PML-N and PPP) had criticised the government for not bringing back students from Wuhan - the epicentre of China's outbreak - which later turned out to be the correct decision.

She called out former prime minister and PML-N MNA Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for alleging that the government did not have a strategy.

"He says we do not have a strategy. Let me tell you about their strategy. If they had their way, they would have brought back our students from Wuhan and then the country would have been in a worse condition than it is right now.

Look at the United States and Iran. They decided to call back their citizens from China and look at their conditions now.

Abbas said Pakistan was one of the first countries to start screening incoming travellers at airports.

Responding to criticism over poor quarantine facilities at the Pakistan-Iran border near Taftan, Abbas said the government had asked Iran to hold Pakistanis for a little while longer so that better arrangements could be made in Taftan.

"But they [Iran] had refused to do so and the government had to make emergency arrangements for them," she said.

Abbas said until the world came up with a vaccine for Covid-19, people across the globe would have to adjust their lifestyles in a way that both lives and livelihoods could be protected.

"The world cannot hop through this crisis one-legged."

'Is taking care of poor people confusion?'

Earlier, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood expressed regret that instead of joining forces to look for a way to defeat the novel coronavirus, lawmakers were unfairly criticising the government's approach.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, he said opposition lawmakers should "thank God" that Pakistan's condition was not as bad as European countries, where thousands had died.

Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood speaks at the floor of National Assembly. - DawnNewsTV

He further said that while the government had shut down marriage halls, transport, schools etc., a blanket lockdown will have a devastating effect on daily wagers and low-income people.

"They [the opposition] say there is confusion [regarding lockdown]. Is taking care of poor people confusion?"...