Parliamentary panel on coronavirus to hold in-camera session

ISLAMABAD: The special Parliamentary Committee on Coronavirus Disease will hold an in-camera session on Monday (today) at the Parliament House to review the situation of the ongoing lockdown.

The committee will receive recommendations from representatives of traders and the business community to develop a strategy to deal with the crisis. National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser will chair the meeting to be attended by representatives from various political parties from both houses of parliament. This will be the fourth meeting of the special committee formed to review the situation arising from the pandemic. 

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood and Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar will brief the committee members and the representatives of traders on the impact of lockdown due to the coronavirus and immediate steps required to protect the economy.

Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI) President Mian Anjum Nisar has been invited to highlight concerns and demands of industrialists, exporters and importers. All Pakistan Anjuman-i-Tajran President Ajmal Baloch will discuss the problems and put forward the demands of traders.

The meeting will also discuss the impacts of lockdown and the steps required to protect the economy. The committee has invited the representatives of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) to provide their views on the current state of the economy.

Many opposition parties have expressed displeasure over the previous two meetings of the committee stating they were unproductive and the scope of the committee has been limited. During the previous meeting on April 20, opposition parties criticised the government over the lockdown and the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.

The opposition has called for imposing a more strict lockdown all over the country and a unanimous strategy to end confusion among the masses. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sherry Rehman had protested over criticism of the Sindh government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.