‘Short march’ looking for bloodshed, says Senator Sherry Rehman

Islamabad: Federal Minister for Climate Change, Senator Sherry Rehman, spoke about the scale of destructive losses incurred by Pakistan after the devastating flood catastrophe, following the launch of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment Report.

Senator Rehman said, “The flood in Pakistan is this century’s greatest climate induced disaster. There is no country that has seen 33 million affected right away. We are looking after a population equivalent to the size of three European countries. The PDNA is the result of a joint survey by the provincial and federal government, with the support of our international development partners. The total damage is at PKR 3.2 trillion, total loss at PKR 3.3 trillion, and the recovery needs are PKR 3.4 trillion. The numbers are in trillion, which shows the unprecedented scale and magnitude of this recent disaster.

She continued, “The flood has pushed between 8.4 and 9.1 million people into poverty. The flood has impacted one in every seven Pakistani. Our healthcare system has taken a massive hit, as 13% of health facilities have been affected nationally. This has led to 4 million children lacking access to health services and an additional 5.5 million households with children under five will not be fully immunized, leaving children at risk of deadly and preventable disease. 1.5 million households will be deprived of clean water and sanitation.”

At the press conference, she said that Imran Khan’s politics of lies and deceit are exposed, showing how he will sacrifice the country for his greed for power. She said “PTI’s march is not a long march, but a short march. If he wants to do a long march, he should have started from Karachi. They ask us why we have put blockades all over the capital. Do they want us to leave the capital open for them so they can harm the institutions like they did with PTV in 2014. When we did a long march from Karachi, we didn’t harm a single tree, but Khan’s closest companion has said that there will be blood and violence. Imran want things to escalate, so he can find a legitimate excuse to cross into the redzone. He doesn’t want to do anything for the people, except burning and starting a violent march. We won’t stop you if you stay in your limits, but if you want to push Pakistan further down like you did in the last four years, we won’t let you.

Speaking about harm caused by Imran Khan’s antics, she said “We are in meetings every day to discuss how we can serve the affected. Our resources are limited but that doesn’t mean we are giving up. The international community is standing with us with their support, and everyone in the system is working on it, but what has Imran Khan done? He just did a telethon, and no one knows where the money went or if it even came into the country. That’s all he did, by doing a telethon for two days and nothing else. Has he ever thought about where he left the country? He lied to the world and the IMF and pushed Pakistan into diplomatic isolation. Prime Minister Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto are working day-and-night to bring the country out of this darkness and put Pakistan back on the map.”

She said, “When people ask us why we took the charge while PTI was already sinking, we respond that it was not just PTI that was sinking, they were taking the country with them, and we had no choice but to save the country. He keeps talking about conspiracies, but he is the one who’s scheming against the country with his ‘Khooni March’ and game of lies, which is now exposed after yesterday’s press conference of the DG ISPR. He is even using the tragic death of Arshad Sharif and giving it a political spin. They could have provided him with protection in the province of KP, where they are in power. They are the one who asked him to leave the country. I don’t want to blame anyone, and that’s not the policy of our party either. We will wait for transparent findings of the commission and authorities and get to the bottom of this.

She concluded, “Imran Khan is asking people to break the constitution, and he thinks of himself as above the law and constitution. He offered extension to the COAS so he could help him save his government, but the Chief refused. He says he didn’t have any authority when he was prime minister, while in power he used to say he is the most independent prime minister in history. Every day you are telling a lie with the hope that it becomes a truth. This is a thinking of a Fascist demagogue, and not someone who believe in the institution of democracy. The door they came from is now closed, and they are willing to do anything to open that door.