From NCC to the Supreme Court
Life under lockdown
AS Prime Minister Imran Khan led his crusade against the lockdown that had been enforced by the PPP government in Sindh, the National Coordination Committee (NCC) overruled him by enforcing the lockdown in provinces ruled by the PTI also. An inflexible PM however continued to call the necessary measure the brainchild of a panic- stricken elite. There are many who think that if the lockdown not been enforced, the number of those affected and dead would have been much higher. The establishment of the NCC and National Command and Operation Centre ensured a smooth and efficient decision making, but failed to ease the tensions between the PTI’s federal government and the PPP’s Sind administration.
Mr Khan meanwhile has continued to politicize the coronavirus issue. He told Sindh government to choose its own course if it liked, and when the provincial Chief Minster insisted on having a national policy, he was accused of making the demand to hide his failures. An attempt is being made to induct the controversial Corona Relief Tiger Force (CRTF) into Sindh against the wishes of the provincial government. To evolve a national consensus on important issues like the covid - 19 pandemic, the opposition demanded convening Parliament. PTI supporters maintained that it was not possible to hold the session under the peculiar circumstances which required social distancing. Instead the federal government preferred to rule through executive orders.
Now the Supreme Court has expressed dismay over the shutting down of business activities by the provincial governments, thus unilaterally encroaching upon the revenue generation domain of the federation, and opening business or trade on receiving applications. But its strictest observations were reserved for those with hubris and arrogance. The apex court stressed the need for coordination between the Centre and the provinces. It also expressed the hope that the respective governments would sit together to frame a uniform national policy. The SC was not satisfied with the outcome of the NCC meetings which did not go beyond prescribing SOPs instead of adopting a proper policy. The Court stressed that executive orders were meaningless until the government goes for legislation through consensus. The government would do well to take the observations as straws in the wind.