Published 09:12 IST, March 26th 2020
Pakistan Opposition netas walk out of Coronavirus meet after Imran Khan walks out on them
The Opposition leaders of Pakistan accused Imran Khan of exuding callousness towards the deadly Coronavirus that has already claimed 7 deaths in the country.
Irked over Imran Khan's approach in dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak, Pakistan Opposition leaders-- president of Pakistan Muslim League Shahbaz Sharif and leader of Pakistan People's Party Bilawal Bhutto staged a walkout at the parliamentary leaders' meeting in protest. The meeting was called by Pakistan's assembly speaker Asad Qaiser to discuss the Coronavirus outbreak in the country.
The Opposition leaders of Pakistan accused Imran Khan of exuding callousness towards the deadly Coronavirus that has already claimed 7 deaths in the country. After completing his speech in a video conference on Wednesday, Imran Khan left the meeting without listening to the inputs from the Opposition leaders, thus leaving them infuriated.
In a video posted by Shehbaz Sharif on his social media, the leader participating in the meeting was heard asking the Pakistan speaker, "I want to know if the Prime Minister is attending the meeting or not." After knowing about Imran Khan's absence, the Opposition leader of Pakistan said, "If this is the seriousness of the Prime Minister then we will not attend the meeting." "We are sorry, we are walking out," he added.
Similarly, Bhutto too staged a walkout along with Sharif, and dubbed the Pakistani Prime Minister's behaviour as "display of pettiness". Following the walkout, Pakistan media quoted Bhutto saying, "If we fail to take it seriously and if we do not cope with the outbreak immediately, our public health system would be overwhelmed by the virus and we would not be able to handle the situation."
Coronavirus in Pakistan
In the thick of a global outbreak, Pakistan confirmed 1078 positive Coronavirus cases on Thursday morning with--413 cases in Sindh province, 20 in Islamabad, 121 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 323 in Punjab, 119 in Balochistan and 82 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 22 ruled out complete lockdown in the country, saying it will create chaos and urged people to self-quarantine to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Updated 09:12 IST, March 26th 2020