Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz has said the war against coronavirus can only be won through unity.
Addressing a news conference here on Saturday along with Special Assistant on Accountability Shehzad Akbar, he said the government had acted in accordance with a roadmap to deal with the pandemic.
Stressing the need for greater unity to tackle the challenge, the information minister said that the opposition parties did not give any positive suggestions in the National Assembly session convened on their insistence but used the occasion for political point scoring.
The minister criticised Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif for not attending the National Assembly's (NA's) recent session, which discussed the coronavirus situation.
"His absence shows his elite mindset. He did not show up because he thinks it is only his health or life that matters," the minister said.
He claimed that other PML-N MNAs came to attend the session although some of them were unwell.
Faraz also said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had always treated everyone equally and considered himself the premier of the entire country.
The information minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan was committed to eradicating the 'virus of corruption' from the country.
He said the country's resources were plundered in the past in an organised manner. Faraz also responded to allegations that Prime Minister Imran Khan is "incompetent" and the government has no proper plans to tackle the dangerous coronavirus situation.
"[The opposition] said we are incompetent. Are we incompetent because we want to end their corruption?" he questioned.
He said despite economic constraints, the government gave a "mammoth" stimulus package of 1.2 trillion rupees to provide cushion and support to every segment of society affected by the deadly virus.
Giving breakdown of the stimulus package, he said this included 480 billion rupees for the business community and exporters, and 570 billion rupees for relief to citizens.
The information minister said under Ehsaas programme, 104 billion rupees has so far been disbursed among the deserving families.
He said the cash assistance programme is being executed in the most transparent and efficient manner.
The minister said supplies of essential commodities have been ensured in the lockdown situation.
He said there were differences of opinion among the provinces on the reopening of public transport but consensus had been evolved on the matter to a great extent now.
He said a policy had been framed to use the transport in a responsible manner.
Faraz said all the federating units had been taken along to cope with the situation arising out of the pandemic.
He said the federal government had provided personal protective equipment to the hospitals in the four provinces.
Special Assistant on Accountability Shehzad Akbar said those who were hand in glove with the PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif in corruption now fully stand exposed.
He said there was a trail of the kickbacks and commission received by the PML-N leader. Akbar said Shehbaz would have to respond to the corruption charges. He demanded the trial of Shehbaz on a daily basis.
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