President Dr Arif Alvi recounted the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s performance over the past two years in his address to a joint session of parliament, praising Prime Minister Imran Khan for withstanding pressure over his coronavirus strategy.
The prime minister, who met National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser shortly before the session started, was also present in the House, as were former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Raza Rabbani, Mushahidullah Khan, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Maulana Asad Mehmood, and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.
Top Opposition leaders Shehbaz Sharif, former president Asif Ali Zardari, and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, however, were not present.
Neither was Baluchistan National Party – Mengal (BNP-Mengal) leader Akhtar Mengal, who has contracted the coronavirus.
Members of the Opposition parties protested and chanted slogans against the PTI government while the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazlur (JUI-F) staged a walkout shortly after the session commenced.
In his speech, President Alvi congratulated the House for completing two years, saying that he was honoured to be speaking there for the third time.
He also lauded the PTI government for its performance, saying that he would present its wins to the House.
“Pakistan is at that point where it should be reviewed what has been done so far, what should have been done, and what should be done in the future,” he said.
The nation has had three lessons in the past, he added, noting that no chance should be wasted to remind the people of Pakistan of what they have learnt and what they have achieved, and how they are on the way to becoming a great country.
“We all collectively fought terrorism. Pakistan is the only nation that fought terrorism,” he added, congratulating the politicians and armed forces for the “win” for the country.
“We also provided (refuge) to the 3.5mn Afghan refugees, we welcomed them with open hearts, and no politician or government spoke ill of them,” he added.
The president highlighted how “100 refugees were stranded in the Mediterranean” after “global powers that lectured us on refugees refused to let them in”.
“Pakistan set up an example, Pakistan told the world how it lectured us but showed how we welcomed the [Afghan] refugees,” he added.
Alvi also listed a third victory the battle against extremism.
“The importance of this one is even more, considering what’s going on in our east-side neighbouring country, where extremism is rising,” he explained.
He underlined how, when the incumbent government came into power, there was “a huge burden of debts, corruption was rife, and the economy was on a downtrend”.
“The first year, I, too, was worried; people advised me to sign a deal with the IMF [International Monetary Fund] or ask for assistance from friendly nations.
“But whatever we decided has led to positive effects on our economy,” he added.
The president lamented how the situation at present was such that “good news is not promoted”.
“Our nation is young. Instead of giving it strength, there’s more talk in the media and elsewhere of what it didn’t do.
“[This leads to] depression being created that a nation that should be growing ends up losing motivation.
“This is a major injustice and I challenge you here that this is the time when you tell the nation to rise up and stand up, instead of telling it that it won’t be able to do so,” he said.
“I give you the example of last year when the coronavirus [pandemic] hit, and there was pressure for a total lockdown.
“Nations are built based on strong and visionary decisions, not just on science and data, but on basis of compassion.
“Speaking of science and data, I’m reminded of [Muslim military commander] Tariq ibn Ziyad.
“Science and data and realism dictated not to burn the boats, one is in a new country but one should keep open the way back regardless of whether one wins the battle or not,” he said.
“But [Tariq ibn Ziyad] burned his boats. I believe the vision and priorities should be clear in the mind of the nation and only then it becomes a true vision.
“So what was the vision that we created? That we will not let the poor die of starvation.
“We made use of foresight. What we did was completely different to all the pressure, all the data, and whatever the rest of the world was doing.
“With regard to the mosques, daily and taraweeh prayers stopped in mosques in 57 Muslim countries, but through the SOPs [standard operating procedures], the ulema in collaboration with the government took a good step to allow people to continue praying in the mosques.
“There was a smart lockdown for coronavirus two or three days ago, I met a few journalists who used to say they failed to understand this; but you and I, we are able to understand, right?
“God only helps those who care for the common people and the poor and the ummah.
“Our smart lockdown led to (fewer) deaths and reduced exposure [to the coronavirus] and today, just before coming here, I read that in India, on Wednesday, 70,000 new cases were identified.
“And in Pakistan? Only 600.
“There must be something we did, right? We’re genetically similar, we have same atmosphere and resources, but we did something good.”
The president stressed that there was no moment in Pakistan’s history as far as he could remember when the world had looked up to Pakistan to learn from it.
There were two nations – Japan and Philippines – that admitted it was possible to learn from Pakistan with respect to the coronavirus pandemic.
The president lauded the media for encouraging and reminding people to follow the SOPs, as well as the ulema, doctors, and paramedical staff for their services.
He also appreciated the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and Prime Minister Khan for withstanding pressure and remaining steadfast.
With regard to the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme, he said 16.9mn benefited from Rs12,000 per family, effectively translating into 80-90mn people assisted by the government of Pakistan.
“This compassion is something that God probably liked and then He helped us in the coronavirus [pandemic],” he noted.
The president, while speaking about the Single National Curriculum (SNC), said it would help create one nation.
“It won’t be that the children of wealthy parents learn differently,” he added, noting that graduates of elite institutes, such as the Aitchison College, were a different class than the common people.
“We provided 50,000 scholarships in one year. This is important because in the past 17 years, only 23,000 scholarships were awarded,” he noted.
There was exemplary work done in health and machines readied.
“It had been said earlier that people would die on the roads, but we set up hospitals, and none of the facilities there such as ventilators were used more than 40-60%.
“People could say we are a poor nation and our preparations cannot match but we ‘over-matched’,” he added.
However, Alvi said that some battles still remained for Pakistan, including tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis – “9% of Pak population suffers from hepatitis” – as well as malnutrition and stunted growth.
“The prime minister’s experience in health helped the nation, he spoke of stunting, as well as of population growth.
“According to the Holy Qur’an, breastfeeding can help reduce malnutrition and stunting, and instructions provided in the Holy Qur’an can show the way ahead for people.
“I appeal to ulema, media, and everyone, to speak about healthy population, the gap [in pregnancy and childbirth], and the recovery [of mothers],” he said.
Speaking of the special needs people, the president said that Pakistan should “not forget them” and to bring them into the mainstream.
“The laws are present and only implementation is needed. I’m working on this in the universities and efforts are being made in the commercial organisations,” he added.
President Alvi: Nations are built based on strong and visionary decisions, not just on science and data, but on basis of compassion.
