Pakistan's Fight Against COVID-19: Analysing Delivery Deficiencies

Pakistan's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is marred with various challenges. The Imran Khan-led government's stubbornness in not agreeing to a complete lockdown is said to be the biggest obstacle in containing the spread of the virus. The situation is further complicated by Imran'...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2020
Main Author: Akhter, Zainab
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
COVID-19
Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:Pakistan's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is marred with various challenges. The Imran Khan-led government's stubbornness in not agreeing to a complete lockdown is said to be the biggest obstacle in containing the spread of the virus. The situation is further complicated by Imran's inability to engender a constructive federal dialogue over the issue, his reflexive antipathy towards the opposition, the orthodoxy exhibited by the religious groups, and the entry of the army into the scene as a major actor and consensus builder. Against this backdrop, this issue brief assesses Pakistan's preparedness in the fight against the pandemic and how various fault lines in the Pakistani society, polity and power architecture affect the delivery of public goods in such a critical situation.