Almost all political parties have either suspended or limited their political activities in the aftermath of the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.
The major opposition political parties, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) have suspended all political activities and urged their workers to stay home or contribute to relief work and raise awareness among the people
PML-N secretary-general Ahsan Iqbal told Business Recorder that the party is avoiding public activities with a view to averting the spread of the deadly virus, adding overall political activities have been limited for the time being.
According to a notification issued by the media cell of the PPP, party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has suspended and postponed all "unnecessary" political activities, including the annual gathering on April 4 to pay tribute to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (halting all mobilization activities in this regard) in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The MQM-P also suspended its political activities and instead announced to launch a campaign to help the efforts to prevent the pandemic from spreading in Karachi. This was announced at a press conference by party convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui along with party leaders Aamir Khan, Kunwar Naveed Jamil and Faisal Subzwari. Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar a day earlier also announced that the party has also put off its foundation day celebrations due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He also urged the party workers to play their role in helping control the coronavirus outbreak, spread awareness, and provide care to the vulnerable people. He said that the party's members of the National Assembly and the provincial assembly as well as local government representatives of the party would donate their one-month salary to the party's funds formed for coping with the coronavirus outbreak.
A spokesman for the Jamaat-e-Islami said that on the instructions of the party chief Senator Siraj-ul-Haq, the party has suspended its ongoing campaign against price hike and unemployment as well as its other political activities.
He said that JI has focused its attention towards relief activities adding that the party has also made all medical facilities available under the banner of the Jamaat-e-Islami in different cities for facilitation of the virus-infected patients.
He further said that the party chief has also assured full support to the government in its efforts to prevent the deadly virus from spreading further in the country. He pointed out that hospitals, dispensaries, ambulance services and medical staff of Al-Khidmat Foundation are available free-of-cost for the service of the nation at this testing time.
He further said that the JI chief has also set up a medical board to create awareness among the masses about COVID-19, adding that JI delegations would hold meetings with the leaders from different political parties and personalities from different social sectors to persuade them to play their role in creating awareness and removing panic among the people.
According to Mufti Abrar, a spokesperson for JUI-F, the party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has suspended all scheduled public meetings under the banner of "anti-government" movement till further instructions because of the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.
He said that the JUI-F chief wants leadership of all the political parties to unite to fight the virus by devising an effective national strategy with the cooperation of the people. He said that the JUI-F's scheduled "Protection of Constitution of Pakistan" conference was also postponed due to the prevailing situation. He said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman has urged the Ulema to promote awareness among the masses in their religious sermons on the preemptive measures against coronavirus.
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