PPP asks PM to take responsibility of coronavirus-related casualties.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Parliamentary Leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman, while responding to Prime Minister Imran Khan's speech, said that Pakistan is looking at 25,000 deaths by the end of August, and yet the people are being told that the situation is under control.

'Of all people being tested in Pakistan, 20 per cent are testing positive, which is the third highest ratio in the world. On June 19, deaths crossed the 3,200 mark. This number doubled in 17 days (1,600 on June 2). The previous doubling had happened in 18 days and the one before that in 15 days. If it continues this way, then till the end of August, we will be looking at 2,5000 deaths. And yet we are being told that the situation in Pakistan is under control. Which parallel reality is the federal government living in?' she asked.

'The first task was to unite the country. He [prime minister] has instead chosen to divide it at a time of terrible crisis,' she added.

She said that Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), which is the only organisation helping and is the most critical element of the economic response to the pandemic, got a 15 per cent budget cut. 'If the government is actually so concerned about the destitute, then why did it not ensure that BISP's budget was increased?' she asked.

The PPP leader said that PM Imran says that the government will account for every penny of the coronavirus relief fund but till date they were unaware of where the international aid went. 'We have been asking repeatedly but no heed is paid to it. On one hand, he says that Pakistan is a poor country and on the other, he is asking our people for charity,' she said.

'Pakistan has the fifth fastest outbreak in the world and accelerating beyond the point of containment. Local transmission is 96 per cent in Pakistan, as per the Health Ministry's data, while the federal government is still confused and unable to reach a decision,' she added.

The senator said that this confusion and the government's mixed messaging has cost Pakistan a great...