Pakistan Discovers the High Cost of Chinese Investment

By Hussain Haqqani

A new report sheds light on the true costs of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor for Pakistan.

Pakistan’s desire to maintain strategic relations with China has resulted in the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a set of infrastructure projects, being mired in insufficient transparency.

But a Committee formed by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to examine the causes for the high cost of electricity to Pakistani consumers has lifted the lid on corruption involving Chinese private power producers in Pakistan.

The report reveals that the Huaneng Shandong Ruyi (Pak) Energy (HSR) or the Sahiwal and the Port Qasim Electric Power Company Limited (PQEPCL) coal plants under CPEC inflated their set-up costs.

For Pakistan’s citizens, who are always told how China is their most reliable friend in the world, it was a shock to discover that China does business mercilessly and unscrupulously.

Successive civilian governments and Pakistan’s military have looked upon China as their principal backer against India.

China’s consistent strategic support, including help with Pakistan’s nuclear program, is often held out by Pakistan’s military establishment favorably in contrast with the more conditional Pakistani alliance with the United States.

But it seems now that China is not in Pakistan to help its people but rather as a predatory economic actor.

The 278-page report by the “Committee for Power Sector Audit, Circular Debt Reservation, and Future RoadMap” listed malpractices to the tune of 100 billion Pakistani rupees ($625 million) in the independent power generating sector, with at least a third of it relating to Chinese projects.

ADVERTISEMENT

Given the close ties between CPEC and the all-powerful Pakistan military — the CPEC Authority is currently chaired by Lt. General Asim Saleem Bajwa, who is also the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting — the Committee treaded softly in relation to the Chinese projects.

According to the committee’s report, “excess set-up costs of Rs. 32.46 billion (approximately $204 million) was allowed to the two coal-based [Chinese] plants due to misrepresentation by sponsors regarding [deductions for] the ‘Interest During Construction’ (IDC) as well as non-consideration of earlier completion of plants.”

The interest deduction was apparently allowed for 48 months whereas the plants were actually completed within 27-29 months leading to entitlement of an excess Return on Equity (RoE) of $27.4 million annually over the entire project life of 30 years in the case of the Sahiwal plant.

The estimated excess payment, keeping in mind the 6 percent annual rupee depreciation against the dollar, works out to a whopping Rs. 291.04 billion (approximately $1.8 billion).

The Chinese company HSR claimed IDC based on a long-term loan at the rate of LIBOR +4.5 percent for the length of the entire construction period, even though it borrowed no money during the first year of construction and used only short-term loans at substantially lower interest rates during the second year.

The magnitude of profiteering by the Chinese companies is incomprehensible. The two projects examined by the Pakistani experts’ Committee were worth $3.8 billion at the time of their launch. The Committee found over­payments of Rs. 483.64 billion, which amounts to $3 billion at current rates of exchange.

This includes overpayment of Rs. 376.71 billion (approximately $2.3 billion) to HSR and Rs. 106.93 billion (approximately $672 million) to PQEPCL on account of excess set-up cost, excess return due to excess set-up cost in 30 years, and excess return due to miscalculation in Internal Rate of Return (IRR).

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.

In its report, the Committee recommended that Rs. 32.46 billion (approximately $204 million) be deducted from the project cost of PQEPCL and HSR; the return payment formula be corrected to reflect actual construction time; and Tariff of PQEPCL and HSR be adjusted accordingly.

Under the current formula, in two years of operation, HSR has already recovered 71.18 percent of its original equity invested whereas PQEPCL has recovered 32.46 percent of its original equity in the first year of operation.

This is over and above the profits that the companies would have made without subterfuge. Imagine the return the Chinese will generate on the $62 billion CPEC projects. These numbers are way too large to have been missed as oversight or malfeasance of individuals within the companies and their Pakistani counterparts.

ADVERTISEMENT

The experience of the Sri Lankan and Maldives governments suggests that these overpayments are generated with the complicity of leaders in the Pakistan government and the loot shared by all parties.

Pakistan’s economy has been teetering on the verge of bankruptcy for some time and the COVID-19 pandemic has made the situation even worse.

Instead of reforming their country’s policies, Pakistan’s leaders, once again, sought debt restructuring and waivers on account of the pandemic, just as they previously sought international assistance  as a reward for fighting terrorism.

But expecting the international community to repeatedly bail Pakistan out from one economic crisis after the other is unrealistic. Massive military expenditure, deep rooted corruption, and lack of accountability are at the heart of Pakistan’s perennial and ever widening gulf between revenue and expenditure.

Now, it seems, Chinese investments have become a new liability. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been pushing Pakistan’s officials to raise taxes and power tariffs, effectively asking the Pakistani public to foot the bill for China’s rapacious practices.

The United States and Western financial institutions should not help Pakistan’s ruling elites in their own and China’s predatory behavior. The people of Pakistan deserve better.

How terror exporter Pakistan has ducked sanctions. Something North Korea, Iran couldn’t do

TARA KARTHA 

Pakistan has staved-off the threat of being tagged as a terrorist state by a careful calculation of the threshold that is tolerated by the US, India and others.

Pakistan is on a roll. Over a span of 10 days, terrorists trained on its soil have managed to attack and kill India’s hardened counter-terrorism soldiers in Kashmir at Handwara. The country has also managed to cause the assassination of Sardar Muhammed Arif Wazir, leader of an entirely peaceful group demanding Pashtun rights. Even more recently, its murderous protèges were accused of a heinous attack at a maternity ward in Afghanistan, killing newborns. Few other countries can aspire to touch such heights of brazen sub-conventional war, without having a tonne of sanctions thrust on them.

Iran, North Korea are lesser mortals

Now, consider this. Iran has been described as the “world’s worst sponsor of terrorism”, with US President Donald Trump designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity in April 2019. That’s the first time that a government body has been designated a terrorist entity. Yet, as analysts point out, Shia terrorism has never found a place in the Annual Reports on Terrorism issued by the State Department in the last 20 years. Iran is certainly prone to go out and kill its adversaries, but its operations are a pale shadow of what Islamabad can achieve on a reasonable day.

Then there is the perpetual bad boy, North Korea, which was re-designated as a terrorist sponsor in 2017. That was more to do with the politics of the Trump administration. Though the North Korean regime does prefer to wipe out dissidents, it is incapable of sustaining a virtual army in one country and 20 years of terrorist activities in another, the way Pakistan has.

The Taliban is an army that depends on Pakistan for shelter, banking, medical care and money, among other things. In the Afghan conflict, 20,260 civilians have been killed or injured between 2009 and March 2020, according to UNAMA‘s conservative estimates. That doesn’t take into account the preceding ten years of war, which may be assumed to have killed a similar number of civilians. Total casualties (both civilian and military) in Kashmir have been estimated to be around 41,000 till 2017. Add to that about another 855 killed since then. In total, Pakistan has been directly or indirectly responsible for more than one lakh deaths since 1990. Yet, Iran remains at the top of the charts for spreading terror.

Pakistan’s covers

How Pakistan has gotten away with this for decades is a question that has puzzled even the best of security experts. Barring the single threat post 9/11 to ‘bomb Pakistan back into the stone age’ the US seems to have shied away from even limited air attacks on Taliban camps in Pakistan. When questioned on this diffidence, many in Washington scornfully dismissed the possibility of attacking a nuclear weapon state, forgetting that Pakistan was already a nuclear state when Richard Armitage, then US assistant secretary of state, made his historic threat.

However, the US has arm-twisted Pakistan on other occasions: when it used drones to attack deep into Pakistani territory, when US Aircraft crossed Pakistani air space to bomb Osama bin Laden’s camps in Afghanistan, and when it went into Pakistan itself to get Bin Laden. So, whether Pakistani nuclear weapons deter the US or not seems to depend heavily on its own interests, political context and the extent of punishment that it calculates Pakistan can bear.

The second view is that the US is much too dependent on Pakistan for anything operational in Afghanistan. That this is true is apparent from US secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s counsel following the most recent attacks in Afghanistan, when he recommended that Kabul “cooperate” with the Taliban to bring peace to the country.

It is also true that Islamabad is adept at turning bad cards into a winning hand. So, it milked US operations for all it was worth, moving from $177 million before 9/11 to reach $2.7 billion in 2010.

Pakistan’s intelligence trade

Pakistan managed to cash in other ways as well. As analysis notes, 3 out of 4 terrorist attacks in the UK, for instance, had Pakistani roots. An earlier paper by the Heritage Foundation warns of a UK-Pakistan “terror connection” that poses a serious threat. The paper recommends a “coordinated” UK-US policy on Pakistan. Clearly, the UK follows its own path in ‘assisting’ Pakistan in return for intelligence about terrorist movement. So do other countries, including Russia, Uzbekistan and China.

Cooperation with the Pakistani army and its intelligence services arehighly prized by governments as well as academics looking for sources. Few are deceived by Pakistan’s duplicity, but go along for the sake of a good paper and contacts they can tout back home. Hence, the criticism is subdued in international journals. In other words, terrorism keeps Pakistan in business and also lets it influence the narrative.

There is a third view. Diplomats quietly admit that as an Islamic state, Pakistan has an ‘in’ to troublesome countries like Iran or Saudi Arabia, and uses its access to assist Western friends. Then, there are suspicions that the US operates into Iran through Pakistani groups to access intelligence from a country it cannot hope to access itself. In 2008, then Pakistan President Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf was flown to China’s restive Xinjiang region to preach peace to Chinese Muslims. Pakistan is no leader of the Islamic world, but it certainly is a useful pawn.

Careful calculations

Pakistan has staved-off the threat of being tagged as a terrorist state primarily by a careful calculation of the threshold that is tolerated by the US, India and others. This was upset by the Balakot strikes, leading it to rely on other levers, including a dire American need to end a debilitating war in Afghanistan and offering information on terrorists it spawns.

Meanwhile, Chinese aircraft carrying medicines and military doctors are being welcomed in Pakistan, at a time when Beijing faces opprobrium everywhere else due to its failure to handle the coronavirus spread. For Rawalpindi, Chinese physical presence is additional insurance.

None of this has hindered India in the past, and it should not now. As India considers an appropriate response to the Handwara attack, there will be consideration of another air strike, despite the fact that Beijing has chosen to heat up the border in Ladakh rather conveniently for Islamabad.

While the air option must be kept open, an aggressive call for sanctions on Pakistan as a terrorist state must be considered, rather than the tedious demand for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. This may receive support at a time when there is global tiredness of Pakistan’s endless wars, and more importantly, the costs it imposes on budgets stressed by a pandemic far more deadly than anything Pakistan can come up with. This time round, Islamabad’s levers may lose their edge.

https://theprint.in/opinion/how-terror-exporter-pakistan-has-ducked-sanctions-something-north-korea-iran-couldnt-do/421931/

Video - Nicki Minaj - Anaconda

Video Report - #mentalhealth Coronavirus: The mental health battle faced by medical workers

Video Report - #NewYork #Coronavirus New York's $61bn budget deficit hinders COVID-19 battle

Video Report - A look into coronavirus case trends as states reopen

Video Report - Fareed Zakaria: The Covid-19 divide is a class divide

ONLY IN PAKISTAN - #NayaDaur - Child Pornography Convict's Sentence Suspended

PERSPECTIVES: Impact of COVID-19 on Women’s Mental Health

By Sana Malik

Whilst acknowledging that the impacts of COVID-19 have been enormous, both on men and women, it should also be noted that in times of pandemics, marginalized populations often get more negatively affected. Women happen to be one such group. However, the ways in which women get impacted more than often take a back seat, and their vulnerabilities are overlooked in difficult times. This is especially true in the context of South Asia where they are often least prepared for any kind of calamity. It is, nevertheless, crucial to understand that the impact on women vis-a-vis their mental well-being is often more severe and for the long-term during a crisis, in particular when hit with the global disaster of magnitude being currently experienced.

In the lockdown phase, abused women feel more vulnerable; feeling claustrophobic because their physical and psychological spaces have become restricted.

This is due to various social, cultural and economic factors combined with social distancing and isolation measures that have been put in practice. Owing to the primary and secondary impact of COVID-19, the impact is not solely limited to women’s physical health but even their emotional responses, which also face a compromise, are disregarded and made invisible. This is in addition to lost livelihoods and deteriorating financial statuses, which may be a consequence of the pandemic as women already face a wage gap. All this allows the suffering of women from multidimensional disparities, which is particularly significant as women represent half of the global population and contribute towards social and economic development.

In terms of the impacts of COVID-19, it has been evaluated to be more significant upon women with less freedom and space. This is owing to their roles and responsibilities as caretakers of households, working from home and in hospitals. Therefore, they are more exposed in their fight against the virus. Female healthcare workers and their everyday experiences with trauma, when dealing with patients, seeing dead bodies, their fear of catching the disease or the process of sterilisation before meeting their family members mean that there are multiple routes to being psychologically affected. Also, lockdowns and confinement at homes are an additional stressor plus the domestic burden of chores and irritability amongst children make women active recipients of psychological pressure. The uncertainty and loss of the control give rise to further apprehension amongst women about not only stressing about themselves but also about other family members. They are already vulnerable while bearing the brunt of all the aforementioned and can have long-term consequences on their mental health. Thus, this should be mainstreamed in COVID-19 response policy.

In addition, in Pakistan, there is a lack of information on the extent that women are affected since there is no data to assess whether there has been a spike in the incidents of domestic violence and abuse since isolation measures have ensued. Incidents of violence are believed to be increasingly based on previous research. This is because men become frustrated while not being able to earn or fear redundancy and, therefore, take out their situational shortcomings on their female counterparts. The Lancet (2020) reported 24 cases while looking at the effects of quarantining and isolation and identified that what was most commonly found was emotional exhaustion, depression and outbursts.

 In the lockdown phase, abused women feel more vulnerable; feeling claustrophobic because their physical and psychological spaces have become restricted. With both the abused and the abuser at home, it does not provide either of them with the boundaries of privacy. In isolation, one feels trapped, unable to consider options like going out or to their parents/ friends, which plays a big part in our collective society. The pandemic has, thus, limited opportunities of getting out. Women tend to be deprived of avenues and strategies of self-rehabilitation. With time, we might be looking at a second pandemic. The existing situation is dealing with the infected victims but people who are going to be psychologically affected as a result will duly come later. The pandemic will inevitably play havoc on the psychological well-being and mental health (which is also inextricably linked to economics) of women, which will, in turn, affect the coming generation. It is, thus, imperative that we prioritise women’s mental health, taking initial steps towards acknowledgement and then lead to changes in policy.

https://dailytimes.com.pk/613043/impact-of-covid-19-on-womens-mental-health/

#Pakistani Minorities get a toothless commission

Waqar Gillani

Federal government's reconstitution of the national minorities commission draws flak.

 The federal government has reconstituted its National Commission for Minorities.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony on May 11, the body will be headed by Chela Ram Kewlani. It will formulate “national policy to promote peace and interfaith harmony”.

However, several minority groups and human rights bodies have expressed reservations regarding the composition and powers of the commission.

Critics say the 16-member commission has been notified without legislation and lacks independence.

When it comes to minorities, Pakistan has a checkered record. Over the years, minorities have suffered persecution in various forms, including terrorist attacks, target killings, destruction of worship places and repressive laws. Successive governments have tried to change that, at least on paper.

According to rights activists, the latest development is a cosmetic move.

In September 2013, a gruesome attack against a church in Peshawar prompted the then chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the matter. During the proceedings, the CJP asked what steps the state had taken to protect minorities.

Following consecutive hearings, the court delivered a detailed judgment urging the state/government to take serious measures to protect religious minorities’ rights and form a body through parliamentary legislation to safeguard their rights.

However, the judgment, considered as a milestone in the history of minority rights, was not fully implemented. The apex court later formed an implementation bench to oversee the actions taken by the government.

In 2019, the SC also formed a one-member commission to ensure the implementation of the SC judgment. Retired civil servant Dr Shoaib Suddle heads the implementation commission.

In its latest report submitted two weeks ago, Suddle stated that the commission was facing non-cooperation from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony.

In its 2014 judgment, the SC had stated: “A National Council for Minorities’ Rights be constituted. The function of the said Council should inter alia be to monitor the practical realization of the rights and safeguards provided to the minorities under the Constitution and law. The Council should also be mandated to frame policy recommendations for safeguarding and protecting minorities’ rights by the Provincial and Federal Government(s).”

So, the government had set up a National Commission for Minorities in 2014 in compliance with the SC judgment.

However, the commission was not in line with the SC ruling. It was in this backdrop that the current government decided to reconstitute the body.

Now, Shoaib Suddle has moved the apex court against this reconstitution of the commission, saying it is in violation of the spirit of the apex court’s 2014 judgment.

“This constitution of the commission is contradictory to the SC judgment. Such a commission must be a legislated statuary body on the lines of existing statutory bodies like National Human Rights Commission, National Commission on Status of Women and recently set up commission to safeguard the rights of children,” he says.

“The commission is not for the welfare of minorities and it does not have a veto over major decisions. It is merely a forum to promote interfaith harmony and healthy discussion.”

— Qibla Ayaz, CII chairman

Meanwhile, several human rights bodies and minority groups have strongly objected to the inclusion of six ex-officio members and two Muslim scholars in the commission.

One of the Muslim scholars is the government-appointed khateeb of the Badshahi Masjid. The other member is from a pro-government seminary.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed strong reservations concerning the formation of a national minorities’ commission through a cabinet decision based on a summary moved by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony. “We urge the government to set up the long demanded national council or commission for minorities up through effective legislation in the spirit of the 2014 judgment,” Haris Khalique of the HRCP says.

The Women Action Forum has also rejected the commission, stating that “such unilateral decisions undermine the parliamentary process and weaken democratic consensus without serving the purpose of protecting minorities and amounts to contempt of court by violating a judgment based on the national and international principles.” The forum warns that “such dangerous games of identity politics are what encourage extremism in Pakistan and have led to murderous results… It is a travesty that nearly half the members of this commission for minorities are from the majority Muslim community.”

“The government of Pakistan has been running the religious minorities’ affairs through ad-hocism and toothless bodies,” Peter Jacob, who heads Centre for Social Justice, says.

“We think there is nothing new and the recent formation of the Minorities Commission is a rehash of old practices and merely an administrative action.”

He says it is quite obvious that the government is not interested in solving the issue. “In fact, its composition puts a big question mark on its performance. It is a mere eyewash.”

Interestingly, rather than focusing on safeguarding the rights of minorities, the commissions’ Terms of Reference state that “it will formulate proposals for amending laws/policies which are reported to be discriminatory towards religious minorities, recommend steps to ensure maximum and effective participation by the members of minority communities in all aspects of national life, ensure effective participation and association of minority communities with their religious and cultural festivals and celebrations. The commission will also look into the grievances and representations made by members of any minority community”.

Most of the matters that the commission is going to address are already in purview of existing official bodies.

For example, matters pertaining to Hindu community and their worship places are controlled by the Evacuee Trust Property Board.

Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) takes up complaints of minority rights violations.

The parliament too has recently formed a joint special committee of National Assembly and Senate members to discuss the issue of forced conversions.

“I think there is a wide misunderstanding about this recently set-up Minorities Commission,” says Qibla Ayaz, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) chairman, who is also an ex-officio member of the new commission.

“The commission is not for the welfare of minorities and has no veto over government decisions. It is merely a forum to promote interfaith harmony and healthy discussion.”

He says there is a lot of international pressure on Pakistan to safeguard minority rights. “The annual reports on religious freedom also have negative references regarding Pakistan. This also leads to imposition of conditions by various international bodies like FATF (Financial Action task Force). The commission is an official effort to control such damage and fulfill international obligations and show the world that Pakistan is making progress in such matters,” he says.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/659113-minorities-get-a-toothless-commission

#CoronaInPakistan - Pakistan learnt nothing from close friend China on fighting Covid. Xi trusts in science

PERVEZ HOODBHOY 

No one knows the price Covid will extract for Pakistan’s disrespect of science. The country will have to be lucky in its fight against coronavirus.

When the coronavirus suddenly emerged in Wuhan province, panicked Chinese authorities botched it badly and were sharply criticised internationally. Yet rapid self-correction led to a systematic, comprehensive and coordinated response. Soon China ‘flattened the curve’ drawing praise from everywhere (except the US). Now, by sending thousands of ventilators and millions of masks overseas, China is re-imaging itself as a world leader battling the pandemic.

China succeeded because it takes science seriously — very seriously. When its epidemiologists saw Titanic speeding towards an iceberg, they demanded drastic action. Raised in a culture of science, the Chinese political establishment concurred and soon engineered the largest mass mobilisation in recent world history. Imposing country-wide quarantines, building a score of temporary hospitals, and meticulously locating all who might have encountered the virus, China showed what a disciplined, rational and collective response could do.

The United States, undoubtedly the world’s most scientifically advanced country, could have done still better. Approximately 18 American citizens have died for every Chinese one and so the urgency is greater. But a quirk of history has put at America’s head an extreme right-wing, science-bashing president who just rebuked his country’s senior-most epidemiologist, cut off funds to the World Health Organisation, and ordered America to end its lockdown.

Trump’s approval rating still hovers around 50 per cent — a sad thing for a nation that the world once admired but now mocks. Nevertheless, its suffering could have been still worse. Fortunately, Americans had the good sense not to buy into the crazy prescription of a lunatic — even if he’s their president — and self-inject Lysol/Dettol as protection against the virus. The mask remains mandatory and social-distancing has lessened but slightly.

Ordinary Americans are partially overcoming Trumpism because they, like ordinary Chinese, were raised inside a cocoon of rationality. Evangelists aside, all others accept that disease comes from viruses and bacteria, not God’s wrath. All who went to high school learned at least a few things there. Proper education pays.

What of Pakistan, both leadership and people? An image coming to mind is that of Prime Minister Imran Khan reverentially listening to Maulana Tariq Jamil at a fundraiser where the latter piteously bleated to the heavens for forgiveness and blamed scantily clad women for bringing down divine punishment. Another image: though in dotage, Khan follows Trump in refusing to wear a mask lest his appeal be diminished. His unfazed followers say no evil virus can defeat a brave man under God’s protection.

But all bravery evaporates when up against religious forces. Suspecting that the government was planning to close mosques and shrines, in a rare display of unity both Sunni and Shia ulema sent a stern warning. In response, President Arif Alvi declared mosques could remain open subject to 20 conditions agreed upon by the government and ulema. Like everyone else, he knew it was a farce. Indeed, the ink was still wet when flagrant violations were reported in about 80 per cent of the country’s mosques.

Thereafter the floodgates crashed down. After a brief hiatus, public places are now teeming with unmasked and ungloved people who have recklessly abandoned all to fate and chance. Food, footwear, and clothing markets are packed. Even as Covid deaths spiral up, life is normalising everywhere except where priorities are low — such as education. Although younger people are statistically at lower risk all schools, colleges, and universities in Punjab will remain closed until July 15.

What makes ordinary Pakistanis so much more religiously charged and difficult to handle than Muslims elsewhere? Saudi Arabia plans to enforce a countrywide five-day-long 24-hour curfew over the forthcoming Eidul Fitr, while Iran’s interior minister says the government is still debating whether to impose a full lockdown on that day.

But to ban congregational prayers, and follow the steps taken by other Muslim countries, is impossible for Pakistan. Even if the government was to so decide, ordinary policemen and foot soldiers would likely disobey received orders. The bitter experiences of moving against the Taliban in the aftermath of 9/11 have yet to fade from the minds of the military establishment.

President Alvi therefore had no choice other than seek face-saving. Whether half-civilian, mostly-military, or full military, every government must mollify the likes of Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid because mullahs control the masses. The state tried choosing co-optation over confrontation, but this was sensed — correctly — as a sign of weakness.

Might more education fix the problem? Very often one hears that expanding education will induce a more rational outlook and bring Pakistan closer to more enlightened and more governable Muslim countries like Turkey, Malaysia, or Morocco. But if education means the stuff which presently goes under that name, then this cannot happen.

The core impediment to greater rationality is that particular interpretation of our national slogan Faith-Unity-Discipline (and permutations thereof) which gained currency during the Ziaul Haq era. It has since remained dominant. In seeking to create national unity through faith alone, the price paid was a demotion of reason and a demotion of trust in temporal institutions. This reduced governability. Whatever laws the state now makes are regarded by the public as man-made and distinctly secondary to orders received from a much higher authority.

This mindset permeates every aspect of life. Reforming education and creating a critical mindset becomes extraordinarily difficult in these circumstances. Science — impossible without scientific thinking — remains stuck despite large injections of money. Pakistanis do not question science’s utility for making bombs, machines, and medicines. But any step-by-step process that demands carefully weighing empirical evidence is culturally alien. Few encounter it in school, even while studying science subjects.

No one knows what price Covid-19 will extract for our disrespect of science and reason. Epidemiology and virology lack the exactness of physics so even our best experts can provide only guesstimates and advise on setting strategies. But since science is little understood or valued, their recommendations fall on deaf ears. If lucky, Pakistan’s final death toll will be limited to a few thousands. What’s certain, however, is that this ship’s crew and captain are powerless to steer it away from the iceberg ahead. 

https://theprint.in/opinion/pakistan-learnt-nothing-from-close-friend-china-on-fighting-covid-xi-trusts-in-science/423340/

#Pakistan - #PPP demands withdrawal of illegal notification of 10th NFC

Information secretary Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians Dr.Nafisa Shah has said that due to his confused narrative prime minister Imran Khan is responsible for the death of over 800 people.
She said this while addressing a press conference at the PPP media office Islamabad with Palwasha Khan and senator Rubina Khalid. Media coordinator PPP Nazir Dhoki and vice president PPP Rawalpindi Naeem Kayani were also present on the occasion.
Dr. Shah said that members national assembly came from far and away to attend the Covid-19 special national assembly session whereas the irresponsible prime minister went missing. She said that chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attended the session but the treasury benches started mad-mouthing the PPP and Sindh government for taking appropriate measures in time. She said that so far over 850 Covid-19 deaths have been reported and the number of patients has reached 40 thousand and our handsome prime minister has lifted the lockdown. Shah said that it is ironic that the nation is fighting Covid-19 but the prime minister is watching 90 episodes of a play.
Dr. Shah said that this government has announced numerous financial amnesty just to benefit its cronies. She said that first beneficiary of the first amnesty was Aleema Baji. She rejected the 10th NFC and said that NFC is awarded through article 161 and 162 of the constitution. The illegal notification of 10th NFC should be withdrawn, she demanded.
Palwasha Khan said that Murad Saeed is a jester who cracks jokes all the time. She said that the government is frightened of Covid-19 but not combating it. She said that if the government narrative is that we have to live with this virus then what is the purpose of this government. She said that instead of providing employment to the people, Imran Khan has made 18 million people unemployed due to his failed economic policies.
Senator Rubina Khalid said that it seems prime minister wants to turn Pakistan into a huge graveyard that is why he went missing from the national assembly session. She said that the PTI government in KP and centre says that everything is fine in the KP hospitals so why doctors are resigning in KP. Why doctors are crying for PPEs in KP?

https://www.ppp.org.pk/2020/05/17/ppp-demands-withdrawal-of-illegal-notification-of-10th-nfc/

Video Report - #UnitedStates #Coronavirus US sees biggest food price rises in 46 years

Video Report - Who the health cares? | 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern history – US health official

Video Report - Hear Bill Clinton's remarks to the Class of 2020

Video Report - Obama Criticizes Trump Administration's Coronavirus Response As Chaotic Disaster

Video - #DailyShow #TrevorNoah - Seriously, What Is “Obamagate”? | The Daily Social Distancing Show

Urdu Ghazal - Noor Jehan - Kabhi kitabon mein phool rakhna

Ahmad Zahir - احمد ظاهر - خدا بوَد یارت Music Video -

Music Video - Ahmad Zahir - Lakra Sharab De Sra Labano Sanam

Pashto Ghazal - Nashanas - زخوشرابی.یم.شیخه سه.راسره.جنگ.کری.برخی ازلی.دی

Video Report - Powerful Institution's Head Told Imran To Be Soft On Tareen

#Pakistan - Unaffordable food inflation

By: Mohammad Ishaq Dar (Ex-Finance Minister)

Unprecedented food inflation in a short period of first 18 months of PTI govt caused hue and cry all over the country as people are unable to afford the prices of essential commodities of daily use as well as medicines.
 According to official data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.2% and food inflation was 1% in May 2018 when PML-N‘s  government tenure completed. Since then CPI rose to 14.6% and food inflation peaked at 19.5% in urban and 23.8% in rural areas of Pakistan in January 2020. Such level of food inflation hasn’t been seen in last few decades except in 2008-09 when global financial crisis led to steep rise in commodity prices.

Pakistan witnessed raging inflation which averaged at annual 12% over five years 2008-13 and PML-N worked diligently to rapidly bring it down through it’s economic policies during its tenure 2013-18; the average inflation of PML-N five years was 4.82% which was in single digit and ideal to incentivise growth. The exchange rate stability and rapid decline in interest rate during PML-N tenure were the results of an all-round macroeconomic stability and unprecedented build-up of forex reserves which resulted in steep decline in inflation.

 Regrettably, PTI government’s incompetence and failed economic policies destroyed the price stability it inherited from PMLN and ended up at high inflation with massive increase in prices of food items of daily use of common man. Additionally, the mafias within PTI played havoc with sugar and flour (aata) prices and made around Rs 100 billion by artificially raising the prices of these items after mindless export permission of sugar by the economic coordinator committee of the cabinet (ECC), duly approved by the Cabinet.

Unlike PMLN, monthly meetings of the National Pricing Monitoring Committee (NPMC), which had federal and provincial governments’ representatives including from food departments, are not held or chaired by Advisor Finance to take notice of erratic movements in prices of essential commodities and to decide corrective and counter measures to manage these.

 There has been overall mis-governance and economic mismanagement which has resulted in overall grounding of the economy. The main reasons for alarming inflation are imprudent devaluation of rupee and high interest rate which this government has pursued blindly.

Unfortunately, it has become a habit of PTI government to lay the blame of it’s imprudent and thoughtless devaluation and interest rate hike on the policies of the previous government. Nothing is farther from the truth and PTI government is only looking for an alibi to cover it’s failure. In the last three months, PTI has a new excuse of Covid-19 pandemic to which will be associated its future failures.

 The government, before entering into IMF program, allowed free fall of rupee which triggered inflation, particularly of food prices; then to control inflation it used the monetary tool of jacking up interest rate. This vicious circle continued even after agreeing for an IMF program and rupee/$ rate reached 160s. Interest rate peaked at 13.25% as opposed to 6.25% when PML-N left; reluctantly it has recently been brought down to 9% in three phases in post Covid-19 adjustments which were compulsory and widely demanded by business community in line with international phenomena.

Sadly, PTI government had also been raising dollars by issuing short term treasury bills with 13.5% interest rate known as ‘Hot Money’; an amount of $3.7 billion was raised since July 2019 but with Covid-19 and fall in interest rate, $2.9 billion has already been repatriation from Pakistan.

 For the purpose of record, PML-N had never agreed with IMF of any condition that required self-slided devaluation of rupee or raising of interest rate. What PML-N prudently agreed in July 2013 was forex reserves accumulation targets and a commitment to maintain positive real interest rates and these principles were religiously followed and targets achieved with margins till IMF program successfully completed in September 2016.

PTI claim that PML-N government artificially controlled the exchange rate is absolutely baseless. How can that be possible for long four years period and in December 2017 the Bloomberg reported that Pak Rupee had been most stable currency in South Asia since 2014. It was only possible with building up of forex reserves and achieving macroeconomic stability which was globally recognised and documented. There was no other way to hold the exchange rate stable.

In post nuclear detonation, $/rupee parity touched 67/69 in Sep 1998 due to havoc played by some speculators but PML-N handled it timely and effectively which brought $/rupee parity back to 52 and remained stable there for months till the Oct 1999 coup.

 The exchange rate regime pursued by the PML-N government in recent tenure was no different than what it established in early 1999 where the inter-bank market in forex was established which is the sole determinant of the exchange rate. PML-N’s two decades old introduced regime continues to this day, no matter the hype created regarding market determined exchange rate or real effective exchange rate (REER).

The myth of artificiality has been contrived by an ill prepared PTI government which got installed without having any plan, policy or road map. It immediately lost the market’s confidence as it failed to present any credible economic plan to the national and global institutions.

 Devaluation was advocated by some as the panacea for increasing exports and they should now serious reflect the ground realities. Exports for FY16 and FY17 were $22 Bio each.

Having completed IMF Program in Sep 2016, PML-N engaged the Exporters’ Associations to work out with the government a relief package with which they would deliver growth in exports. On 10 January 2017 mutually agreed Rs 180 billion exporters package was announced by PML-N which was later beefed up with another Rs 67 billion in Aug 2017, thereby making it total of Rs247 billion which led the exports to grow by 12.7% to $24.8 Bio in FY18.

 Had this formula been followed by PTI in coming FY19 and FY20, we would have ended with exports figure of around $31 Bio by June 2020. But PTI government chose to follow pseudo intellectuals’ bookish theory, who were demanding a slide of $/rupee to 127 to boost exports, and allowed self slide of rupee devaluation but could not manage till it slided to 160s. Soon after it crossed $/127, such pseudos publicaly distanced themselves from PTI’s policy and criticised them on camera. Despite massive devaluation, FY19 ended up with negative growth of 2% with $24.2Bio and in current FY20, there has been no impressive results so far on this account.

While PML-N insulated 92% of the economy (exports being 8%) from damage of devaluation and got growth of 12.7% in exports with targeted support, PTI has ruined the entire economy by massive slide of the rupee which resulted in sky high inflation for the common man and shrunk the GDP growth of 5.8%, that it inherited from PML-N, to 3.3% in FY19 and now projected to be negative 2% in FY20.

 However, due to Covid-19 pandemic in last three months, millions have been made jobless and multi millions pushed below poverty line as a result of which people’s disposable incomes have heavily shrunk, most of industry closed and GDP has nose dived; this has led to demand compression and resultantly CPI came down to 10.2% with food inflation at 13% and 15.5% in urban and rural areas respectively in March 2020 with latest numbers of CPI 8.5% and food inflation 10.4% urban and 12.9% rural in April 2020.

Comparing with PMLN’s food inflation of 1% in FY18 that was inherited by PTI, the Covid-19 pushed down latest inflation numbers are still very alarming and unaffordable not only for the common man but also for middle and upper middle class.

 PTI government must take urgent monetary, fiscal and administrative measures to curb the inflation, specially food.

https://www.24newshd.tv/08-May-2020/unaffordable-food-inflation

COMMENTARY: What is wrong with Pakistan #coronavirus control strategy?

Dr Rana Jawad Asghar

For living I work on outbreaks detection and control systems, including pandemic preparedness. Over the years I have taught young public health officers across the globe how to detect outbreaks quickly and contain them locally. Part of our standardized training curriculum is what not to do if there is a major outbreak or a pandemic. In Pakistan everyone has a say on how to best control this pandemic in our country. It does not matter what this person professional background may be. Then there is a political divide on the best approaches to contain the disease. This is a landscape full of landmines because no matter what I say I will be making some friends and colleagues unhappy. So I will try to test each action on the fundamental principle of outbreak control and will try to steer away from subjective conclusion. If you ask any of Pakistan Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training (FELTP) program graduates they will testify that these are considered must Dos and Don’ts and I am not just making them up to embarrass some.

Let’s test the actions one by one on these principles.

 1. There should be one in charge! This is the first thing all teams need to do before attempting to do anything else. Agree on one person who will be the lead of this outbreak control team. Normally this person will be an epidemiologist with actual experience of outbreak control. In my own professional life I have been lead of many outbreak investigations even though I was most junior officer in many instances. Unified leadership is the critical component in any pandemic control strategy as decisions based on evolving data needs to be made on daily basis which requires understanding of epidemiology, data science and outbreak dynamics. It’s just like military operations. There should be a clear authority before you send your troops to an active fight. Everyone should know their role and responsibilities. Any ambiguity in authority cost lives in combat. Responding to a pandemic is no different. I have a simple question: who is the in charge here?

Pandemics are also local. That means pandemics do behave differently in different parts of the same country

2. Decisions should be based on health intelligence. Disease surveillance is not just a daily list of numbers of dead and sick but a step ahead to predict virus next moves based on its observed strengths and weaknesses and understanding of our own vulnerability. No combat leader will rely on computer models but get the real feedback from an ongoing battle and modify his response in real time. COVID19 pandemic is like third World War and this is high stake war of survival of our specie. Our enemy is not Nazi Germany but a microscopic foe which is stealth in infecting and killing us. We are still trying to learn about it so it become very critical that whatever health intelligence we have about SARSCOV2 (the virus which gives us COVID-19) we use it for our greatest advantage. “Are we making or evolving our decisions based on our data”?

3. Decision should be made based on science. That does not mean that political leaders should not be the final authority in the decision making. However they should get the best technical team of disciplines concerned, and listen to them before they make a decision. No doubt we all have technical committees but they don’t sit on the table when the decisions are made. This helps others to ignore their advice. Look around the world and every political leader is flanked by the country top epidemiologists and public health professionals. The technical committees in these countries are not at second or third tier of decision making but have seats in the top decision maker bodies. The simple reason is that our enemy is not a human whose actions and reactions we could predict but a microscopic virus which has evolved our billions of years. Even with top administrative professionals and military genius will need those who understand viruses and know how to manage them in an outbreak setting. “Do we have right technical experts sitting in top decision making bodies?”

4. One of the most important principles of pandemic management is that the government officials should not be seen fighting with each other in public. That confuses public and they ignore important guidelines being issued by the government because they are not sure who is right and who is wrong. “Are our government officials/ministers are being seen in public in conflict in their opinion on how to respond to an outbreak?”

https://dailytimes.com.pk/613051/what-is-wrong-with-pakistan-coronavirus-control-strategy/

#CoronaInPakistan - #PTI govt: a short-lived respite

By Hasaan Khawar

The PTI government has been witnessing a roller-coaster ride since the time it came to power. After an initial honeymoon period, reality started to set in, as the government tried to juggle with multiple challenges one after the other. Economic uncertainty prevailed, opposition gathered momentum, and the weak governance in Punjab became the talk of the town.

Realising the gravity of the situation, the government made multiple adjustments through tough economic measures, political concessions, alterations in the cabinet, overhaul of the economic team, and administrative changes. Finally, after 15 months into the government it seems that the situation has calmed down. If there was ever a moment of respite for the PTI government, it is now.

On the political front, the Supreme Court’s decision on the army chief’s extension laid many rumours to rest. The JUI-F dharna fizzled out without any untoward situation. And with Nawaz Sharif in London and Asif Zardari on bail, the political temperature is cooling off.On the economic front, after a turbulent ride, the dust is finally settling. The macro-economic indicators show some cautious optimism, with twin deficits improving, exchange rate in control, an impeccable first quarter review by IMF, donor money pouring in, and the stock market recovering.

On governance, Punjab has been a sore point since Usman Buzdar was appointed as chief minister. Critics started questioning his candidature right away but with time even the sympathisers joined hands in critiquing the Buzdar-led regime, characterised with frequent transfers, postings, indecision and corruption. After months of reluctance, the government recently provided a bureaucratic antidote, with a new team parachuted to Lahore, fully empowered to do what’s necessary to bring back the semblance of good governance. Although the lawyers’ fiasco has not been a good omen for the new team, even this crisis is likely to taper off with time.

And on reforms, the initial narrative of PTI’s unreal promises of five million houses and ten million jobs has given way to talks of more concrete initiatives like the Ehsaas programme, Sehat Insaf Card and Digital Pakistan.

But knowing the political climate of the country, this respite is likely to be short-lived. The army chief’s extension still needs a legislative fix, which might necessitate more concessions for the opposition. The early signs of economic stability have yet to give way to growth and job creation. The fiscal discipline necessary for the IMF programme would mean hardly any money left for real development. And Punjab’s new governance model, which may solve the administrative crisis, is likely to lead to a new political debacle as soon as the PTI MPAs realise that with the CM being marginalised they have also been excluded from the power corridors.

The government should therefore use this time to consolidate its successes and take some strategic decisions to pre-empt any future crises. The first is to look for a more permanent political solution to Punjab’s governance challenge, creating a fine balance between a high performing meritocratic regime and a participatory setup, where legislators are not altogether alienated. The second is to cement the fissures within the ruling coalition. There is a strong feeling that too many outsiders are calling the shots, with party stalwarts playing second fiddle. Thirdly, there is an immediate need to address the more difficult structural economic challenges like state-owned enterprises and circular debt to create much-needed fiscal space to deliver on the ambitious electoral promises.

The government must realise that at best, the present signs of stability take us back to 2017 and that’s not going to fly in the next elections. If the PTI is serious about creating a lasting legacy, this is just the starting point of a very long road ahead.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2119218/6-pti-govt-short-lived-respite/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=4c7b326ef370c3c6bd1c271fd1865c35b025e5dd-1589653536-0-AWD_LIblf3nRfPH_xQZ1I6nnUidSjwxZJZRW3PBk47rtglUFrNUEx9kabrJ-7XgDZuP1krBz0Eg3zEKO03UZF_yXUdEhmDB9LpVl18S5-aAtJFezmEkWZcV6EPtLNrGHPA45xJ49TLp_stwS7_PbPQ8x-HbWmD3U-_XeHNHZF10z-15mzBD6HbiidiZYXM7UcRmyXGPy7eJISY7OyE4Hv1JgvyOPQu-2-s0revFjMgevlLofYU6QBQUov7bS1sRgYp_e95zSUu85YhgMhJuo--IV2ItfPiW443NudU1XH64lQV_1i6LDAYtJjyaY3irYlOzmUp2Nd_97Z4u0n7mCKnM

#Pakistan - Imran Khan proved to be failed Prime Minister

Secretary Information Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians Dr. Nafisa Shah MNA said that either prime minister Imran Khan is an absconder or missing or is highly irresponsible that is why he did not attend the national assembly session.

Dr. Shah said that Imran Khan did not attend the whole session and did not take the nation in confidence amid Covid-19. Imran Khan addresses press conferences with unelected associates and blames the people for getting sick because of Covid-19. Other treasury bench members instead of talking on the pandemic, in the parliament, attacked opposition.

Dr. Nafisa Shah said that it is usual for Imran Khan to leave the nation alone in every crisis and sabotaging every positive measures taken by the opposition. Imran Khan has failed miserably to function as prime minister, Dr. Shah concluded.

https://www.ppp.org.pk/2020/05/15/imran-khan-proved-to-be-failed-prime-minister-mna-dr-nafisa-shah/

#Pakistan - #PPP will go to any length to protect 18th amendment and the constitution

Pakistan Peoples Party is ready to go to any length on the issue of 18th amendment in the constitution whether it is to courts or on the streets.This was said by the Information Minister Sindh Syed Nasir Ali Shah while addressing a press conference at the PPP media office Islamabad with Nazir Dhoki.

Syed Nasir Ali Shah said that the criticism and bad-mouthing was started during the session of national assembly by the foreign minister when he was asked first to deliver his speech on Covid-19 so its response had to come from opposition. He accused Prime Minister and the federal government of spreading confusion about the lockdown amid Covid-19. When the government witnessed that the entire world and media was appreciating the measures by Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah under the guidance of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the prime minister and his cabinet as well as PTI members went berserk and started abusing the Sindh government and the PPP. The only crime of Sindh government and PPP was that they took appropriate measures to contain Covid-19 in time.

Syed Nasir Ali Shah said that if Pakistan had imposed a very strict lockdown for about two weeks as Sindh had suggested instead of giving confused signals to the people, then we would have been in a way better situation to deal with this pandemic. He said that the difference between PPP and PTI is of awareness and ignorance. After Sindh every other province and federation imposed lockdown within days but PTI criticised only Sindh for lockdown. Similarly different areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad and Punjab were sealed but only Sindh was criticised for sealing a few UCs in Karachi.

Regarding allowing the so-called tiger force to function in Sindh Syed Nasir Shah said that Sindh will facilitate the tiger force despite objection on the name. He said that if Imran Khan decides to open transport then he should come out and say so but he does not want to take responsibility. Similar was the case of opening businesses and shops but Imran Khan is continuously shying away from leading the country. He said that Sindh and Balochistan both had reservations on allowing transport to start.
Shah accused PTI and federal government that they start talking about NFC and 18th amendment just to hide their failures. We have to fully implement NFC and 18th amendment first before we talk about them. On the issue of 18th amendment, the PPP is ready to go to courts and the streets, he warned.

He said that when the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Pakistan, Sindh had a capacity of conducting only 80 tests per day which has now been increased to 6000 tests per day. Sindh has 12000 beds and the capacity will soon be increased to 20,000 beds. Sindh has 280 ventilators and 200 more are on the way. He also said that not a single ventilator has been provided by the federal government yet.

  پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی آئین کی اٹھارہویں ترمیم کی حفاظت کے لئے کسی حد تک بھی جانے کے لئے تیار ہے چاہے وہ عدالتیں ہوں یا سڑکیں ہوں۔ یہ بات سندھ کے وزیر اطلاعات سید ناصر علی شاہ نے پی پی پی میڈیا آفس اسلام آباد میں نذیر ڈھوکی کے ہمراہ ایک پریس کانفرنس سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے کہی۔ سید ناصر شاہ نے کہا کہ پیپلزپارٹی کے خلاف قومی اسمبلی میں الزامات اور مغلضات بکنے کی ابتداءاس وقت ہوئی جب وزیر خارجہ نے کورونا پر بات کرنے کی بجائے پیپلزپارٹی پر الزامات لگانا شروع کر دئیے۔ انہوں نے وزیراعظم اور ان کے وزراءکے متعلق یہ کہا کہ ان لوگوں نے اپنے بیانات کے ذریعے عوام میں کنفیوژن پھیلا دی۔ جب وفاقی حکومت اور پی ٹی آئی کو یہ پتہ چلا کہ ساری دنیا اور میڈیا چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری کی ہدایات کے مطابق سید مراد علی شاہ اور سندھ حکومت کے کورونا کے خلاف بروقت اور مناسب اقدامات لینے پر اس کی تعریف کر رہا ہے تو وزیراعظم ان کی کابینہ کے افراد اور پی ٹی آئی کے اراکین نے سندھ حکومت اور پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی پر الزامات لگانے شروع کر دئیے اور گالم گلوچ کا وطیرہ اختیار کر لیا۔

 سید ناصرشاہ نے کہا کہ اگر پاکستان اس وباءکے شروع ہی میں دو ہفتوں کا سخت لاک ڈاﺅن کر لیتا تو حالات بہت بہتر ہو سکتے تھے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ سندھ حکومت نے ایسا کرنے کی تجویز دی تھی لیکن وزیراعظم کنفیوژن کا شکار رہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ پی پی پی اور پی ٹی آئی میں فرق شعور وار شور کا ہے۔ جب سندھ نے لاک ڈاﺅن کا اعلان کیا تو پھر سارے صوبوں اور وفاق نے بھی لاک ڈاﺅن کر دیا۔ اسی طرح جب کے پی، اسلام آباد اور پنجاب کے علاقوں کو سیل کیا گیا تو کوئی شور نہیں مچایا گیا لیکن جب سندھ حکومت نے کراچی کی کچھ یونین کونسلوں کو سیل کیا تو طوفان بدتمیزی مچایا گیا۔ سندھ میں نام نہاد ٹائیگر فورس کو کام کرنے کی اجازت دینے کے بارے میں انہوں نے کہا کہ سندھ حکومت ان کے لئے سہل کاری پیدا کرے گی حالانکہ ٹائیگر فورس کے نام پر سندھ حکومت کو اعتراض ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ اگر عمران خان یہ فیصلہ کرتے ہیں کہ ملک بھر میں ٹرانسپورٹ کھولی جائے تو سندھ ایسا کرنے کے لئے تیار ہے لیکن اس کے مضمرات کی ذمہ داری عمران خان کو لینا ہوگی۔ عمران خان پہلے ہی کورونا کے خلاف ملک کی قیادت کرنے سے ہچکچا رہے ہیں۔ انہوں نے یہ بھی بتایا کہ بلوچستان اور سندھ کی حکومتوں نے ٹرانسپورٹ کھولنے پر اپنے خدشات کا اظہار کیا تھا۔ سید ناصر شاہ نے کہا کہ جب بھی یہ حکومت ناکامی شکار ہوتی ہے تو اٹھارہویں ترمیم اور این ایف سی کی باتیں کرنا شروع کر دیتی ہے۔ جب پاکستان میں کورونا کا پہلا مریض سامنے آیا تھا تواس وقت سندھ حکومت کی ٹیسٹنگ کی استعداد 80ٹیسٹ روزانہ تھی جو اب بڑھ کر 6000ٹیسٹ روزانہ ہو گئی ہے۔ انہوں نے یہ بھی بتایا کہ سندھ کے پاس اس وقت 12ہزار بستروں کی گنجائش موجود ہے جسے جلد ہی بڑھا کر 20ہزار کر دیا جائے گا۔ سندھ کے پاس اس وقت 280وینٹی لیٹر ہیں جبکہ 200 مزید وینٹی لیٹر آرہے ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ سندھ کو وفاقی حکومت کی جانب سے اب تک ایک بھی وینٹی لیٹر نہیں دیا گیا

https://www.ppp.org.pk/2020/05/16/ppp-will-go-to-any-length-to-protect-18th-amendment-and-the-constitution-syed-nasir-ali-shah/