QUETTA: Leaders of opposition parties in Balochistan have said that the government of Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani has failed to contain the spread of coronavirus and solve other problems of the province.

They threatened that a protest movement would be launched against the government if problems being faced by the people were not solved.

Speaking at a joint press conference after a meeting here on Saturday, the opposition leaders alleged that the government was committing corruption, negligence and mismanagement and rejected its claim of introducing good governance in the province.

“The government failed to establish testing laboratories in other districts and divisional headquarters except Quetta that caused increase in the number of coronavirus cases in Balochistan,” they said.

Say Alyani-led government has failed to contain Covid-19 spread

The leaders who spoke at the press conference included former chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Syed Iqbal Shah of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Malik Wali Khan Kakar of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal, and Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhel of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q.

Earlier, the opposition leaders held a meeting in which they discussed the performance of the provincial government on various issues, including its response to Covid-19 outbreak, locust swarms in 29 districts of the province, the overall political situation and the federal government’s intentions regarding 18th Amendment of the Constitution and the National Finance Commission Award.

The meeting observed that the country was already suffering from political, constitutional, economic and social crises. If any attempt is made to tamper with the 18th Amendment and the NFC award, the opposition parties would resist it with full force.

“The government should immediately take steps to solve problems faced by the people, otherwise the opposition parties would launch a protest movement with the cooperation of the people which will continue till the end of the provincial government,” the meeting resolved.

The opposition leaders said that the country was in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, but the ruling parties were not taking the issue seriously.

They said according to the World Health Organisation a strict lockdown and social distancing measures were necessary to stop the spread of the virus. But, unfortunately the PM and other people at federal and provincial levels were not taking these suggestions seriously.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2020