Senate Speech: Senator A. Rehman Malik calls for national unity to combat Coronavirus

Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator A. Rehman Malik today on Thursday urged the government to take full advantage of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s offer of full support to combat Coronavirus unitedly otherwise government itself will be begging his support a month later.

Need of National Unity: In his speech in the Senate, Senator A. Rehman Malik urged the government to create national unity to combat coronavirus unitedly as it is a threat to our national security which we have to combat with national unity. Referring to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's speech in National Assembly, he said that today Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is offering his full support to the government to fight Coronavirus which the government is refusing but a month later government itself will be begging for his support. He said that he was surprised by the speeches of some members from treasury benches which contrary to the need of the hour were full of blame games. He said we must not play politics on Coronavirus as it is an issue of human lives. Referring to Shah Mehmood Qureshi's speech yesterday in the Senate, he said that we must not turn the issue of Coronavirus into a political platform to play our politics on it. 

Ease of Lockdown will increase numbers of COVID cases: Senator A. Rehman Malik expressed that the government seems confused on the definition of lockdown adding that a smart lockdown means to restrict the moment of the public in a specific area rather partially allowing the movement of the whole public across the country without proper preventative measures and following the standard SOPs of WHO. He said that unfortunately, our country will have a drastic increase in the positive cases of Coronavirus in upcoming days as after easing the lockdown, neither the people are observing social distancing nor the government is implementing the SOPs. He said that the advice of World Health Organization (WHO) is not being followed in markets and streets and other public places. He said that the presence of Prime Minister in parliament in these difficult moments had conveyed a good message to the people of Pakistan. He said as an elder of the Pakistani family, Prime Minister Imran Khan should have attended the Parliament sessions on Coronavirus.

Invoking of Force Majeure to write-off Foreign Loans: In his speech, Senator A. Rehman Malik urged the government to not take further foreign loans and invoke Force Majeure Law to write-off the current foreign debts. He said that he has already submitted two resolutions in this house; one to not take further foreign loans and second to invoke the Force Majeure Law ton write-off Pakistan existing foreign loans adding that the law is a good option with Pakistan to get relief. He said that over 300 lawmakers from around the world have also urged the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to cancel the debt of the poorest countries in response to the coronavirus pandemic and to boost funding to avert a global economic meltdown. He informed the House that in this regard, he had written a letter to FATF President on 21st March 2020 to remove Pakistan name from its Grey List and on 26th March, 2020 another letter to UN Secretary-General to play role in removing Pakistan name from FATF’s Grey List. He said that he was glad that FATF gave Pakistan a temporary relief of six months however if government pursue his plea and work, the name of Pakistan could be removed from grey list forever as it is adversary affecting Pakistan economy. He said that indeed a pandemic brings miseries but we can turn those miseries into opportunities by wise and timely decisions.

Senate Standing Committee Role against COVID-19: Senator A. Rehman Malik in his speech also apprised the house about the Senate Standing Committee on Interior services against Coronavirus. He said that during his visit to Quetta early on February 25, 2020, he felt the potential outbreak of Coronavirus in Pakistan soon after its outbreak in Iran and China. He said that he held the Committee emergency meeting on February 27th specifically on Coronavirus when only two cases of COVID-19 were reported across the country and gave a comprehensive Anti- Coronavirus National Action Plan containing 37 highly important recommendations. He said that situation would fat different today if the Senate Standing Committee 37 points National Action Plan was implemented timely. He said that he had advised the government to hand over all airports and entry points to Army Medical Corps for proper screening of all incoming passengers to timely stop the spread of Coronavirus in Pakistan. Chairman Senate appreciated Senator A. Rehman Malik for his work on Coronavirus and ordered that copies of the Report of Senate Standing Committee on Interior may be distributed among all the members of the Senate.

Govt should bear charges of Corona Tests of Poor: Senator A. Rehman Malik asked the government to bear the charges of coronavirus tests of the poor patients. He asked that the poor patients may be tested either in the government hospitals or reimbursement may be given to private clinics that provide testing facility to poor patients. He said that how those poor can bear these expensive tests for COVID-19 who are even worried for two times of meal. He said that it must be investigated as how testing kits are imported on high price while he knows many suppliers who are willing to provide in very low price as compared to the existing price. He urged the government to focus on agriculture sector and announce relief packages for farmers namely “Kissan Package” as by enhancing our agriculture growth we not only can meet our domestic demand but can also export our agriculture products. He emphasized that it is need of the hour to enhance our agriculture sector. 

Brief on COVID-19: Senator A. Rehman Malik also briefed about the COVID-19 as most recently he has launched his book “Coronavirus- A Threat to National Security”. He briefed the house about the nature, weight, chemistry, spread, destruction and prevention of viruses. He said Senator A Rehman Malik further said that the weight of a virus is measured at 0.85 actograms or 0.85 x (10)^-18 grams, or about one millionth of a trillion grams, and 70 billion viruses that will make a person sick attract about 0.0000005 grams. Since the total number of cases worldwide is now over 4.26 million, the total weight of the rogue viruses, which are present in the world, comes to about 1 gram, he added. He said that this virus and the creator of virus has brought the entire world on its knees with a total of 1 gram of virus. He said that it is necessary that to identify the patient zero and origin of the COVID-19 and for this purpose he had written letter to Secretary United Nation to constitute UN Commission on COVID-19 to investigate the origin and patient zero of COVID-19. He said that he has also written a letter to Mr. Bill Gates as for many times he had predicted about the outbreak of pandemic. He said that he wishes the Hendra virus had been persuaded clinically and medically to invent vaccine for this mother virus which could have enabled the scientists, virologists, biologists to progress quickly in inventing the vaccine for Coronavirus.

At the end of his speech, Senator A. Rehman Malik urged the nation to follow the World Health Organization SOPs and avoid unnecessary moment and stay home. He prayed may we soon get rid of this deadly disease urging the government to create political consensus and unity.