KARACHI: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Pakistan would send aid soon to Palestine to assist the country deal with the coronavirus epidemic and the medical emergency situation as the conflict intensified.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, Fawad Chaudhry said that the cabinet had approved sending medical aid to Palestine on humanitarian grounds in view of the medical emergency faced by the Palestinians as a result of Israeli aggression.
The minister said Pakistan was the first Islamic country that adopted a very clear and strong stance on Palestine which it was standing by even today. He said the foundation of Pakistan’s policy on Palestine was laid down by the Quaid-i-Azam and Prime Minister Imran Khan was its trustee.
Pakistan’s leadership and efforts for the people of Palestine were being accepted by the entire Muslim world including President Mahmud Abbas and the country’s envoy to Pakistan who had thanked Pakistan for its support, Chaudhry added.
“Turkish President said what was in his heart for Palestine was on Imran Khan’s tongue. There is a very big role of PM Imran Khan,” Fawad said.
He said the whole Pakistani nation dismayed by the increasing number of civilian casualties, including the death of several family, children, as a result of Israeli airstrikes.
The minister further said Israeli airstrikes destroyed high-rise buildings in Gaza City and housed the offices of several international media organizations as well as residential apartments, adding that the world community must take notice of the aggregation by Isreal.
Regarding electoral reforms, the minister said the government would present a report on electoral reforms in parliament next Monday, adding that a detailed discussion could be started from next week.
Criticizing the opposition for its inconsistent narratives on electoral reforms, the minister said the opposition had first claimed the Result Transmission System (RTS) malfunctioned in the 2018 general polls.
“The opposition’s narrative on election reforms is not only non-serious but proves that they do not believe in transparent and fair polls in the country,” he alleged. He also said the PPP and PML-N had not clarified their stance on giving overseas Pakistanis the right to vote.
Chaudhry said the PTI government was also going to bring legislation that would make it obligatory for an elected parliamentarian to take oath within six months, failing which their seat would be considered to be vacant.
