- Dangerous in the era of coronavirus
In January the PTI government had lashed out at Transparency International for placing Pakistan further down in its corruption perception list. Questions have now been raised by the Supreme Court about lack of transparency in the way the government is using relief funds. The court also raised questions about the use of Zakat fund for providing remuneration to the officials of the department, conducting administrative affairs and undertaking air travels. The government was grilled over inadequate quarantine facilities and ‘inhumane’ conditions prevailing at the Hajj Complex. The provincial governments were also reprimanded over the way they distributed rations.
The PTI government also remains inscrutable on a number of other issues. It has announced guidelines to people in general and shoppers, storekeepers and prayer leaders in particular. A perception is being formed that the announcements are not meant to be implemented but are in fact optics aimed at creating an impression that the government is trying its best to fight the coronavirus. This explains why the government lets the bazaars in major cities be crowded while customers and storekeepers are not penalized for creating huddles, or prayer leaders arrested for violating the instructions are set free. The government avoids alienating any large group of voters even if this harms the country.
The PTI government appears to be convinced that providing jobs, even if these raise the mortality graph, will get it more votes in the next elections than saving lives by implementing strict distancing measures. SAPM Zafar Mirza continues to under-rate the pandemic, maintaining that infections in Pakistan are two-thirds lower than forecast earlier. The explanation given by him is that it was due to the immediate measures taken by the government to control the outbreak under the supervision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. While the explanation is obviously aimed at gaining political mileage, it flies in the face of facts. The first two cases of coronavirus in Pakistan were reported on February 26 and the mismanaged opening of the Taftan border took place on February 28. Mr Khan however did not take any public notice of the issue till March 14, when Pakistan’s tally of coronavirus cases had already arisen to 33.
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