Trudeau again
A brownface scandal, corruption accusations, and a penchant for being dressed in more ethnic wear than whatever ethnic group he may be honouring were not enough to defeat Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. However, Trudeau’s dashing good looks were not enough to keep a majority for his Liberal party, which lost more than 30 seats and its majority in Parliament. Liberals retained 157 seats on Monday, down from the 184 seats they secured in 2015. Canada requires a party to hold at least 170 seats for a majority. Liberal politicians and voters can, however, take some consolation in the fact that the New Democratic Party (NDP), which is even farther left than the liberals, will almost certainly support them, even if it is unlikely to formally join a coalition government. The NDP itself did not have a good day, losing 22 of the 44 seats it had previously held. The NDP will likely back Trudeau if he agrees with their strong positions on climate change, raising wealth taxes on the uber-rich, and affordable housing. In most cases, the Liberals would probably be able to get on the same page as the NDP without offending their own base, and vice versa. Overall, however, the liberals will have to move further left to maintain NDP support.
Trudeau’s victory speech was highly optimistic. “From coast to coast, Canadians rejected division and negativity… they rejected cuts and austerity and they voted in favour of a progressive agenda and strong action on climate change.” Meanwhile, Conservatives in the less populous but oil-rich western provinces even started calling for a ‘Wexit’, aghast at the prospect of another four years under a government that doesn’t want to poison young children with fossil fuels. Also heartening was the fact that the xenophobic far-right People’s Party of Canada, despite fielding a full slate of candidates, did not win even a single seat. Clearly, the real winners in Canada were progressives.
Exorbitant prices of drugs
The most strange thing about fake and exorbitantly priced medicines is that even those engaged in these practices don’t like them. In Multan on Oct 21, shopkeepers in a medicine market were caught charging exorbitant prices for life-saving drugs. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan has confiscated stocks of overpriced medicines in different cities during an ongoing countrywide crackdown. A team of drug inspectors raided a market in Multan and seized stocks of overpriced medicines. The team found horrible levels of profiteering in the market. A packet of a blood pressure medicine was being sold for Rs1,200 instead of Rs170; another medicine for blood pressure was being sold for Rs1,900 against the normal price of Rs457. Another medicine normally priced at Rs62 was being sold for Rs1,350. The profit margin was as high as 1,500 per cent.
Speaking the other day in Islamabad at the opening ceremony of a training course for drug inspectors, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said a crackdown against those engaged in unauthorised increase in prices of medicines had been launched and those involved in the trade of fake medicines and unauthorised increase in prices of medicines would be dealt with an iron hand. He said the government would soon introduce the first national medicine policy to resolve issues relating to manufacturing of medicines. The training course for drug inspectors is being held as per standards of the World Health Organisation. The WHO wants every country to bring its regulatory authority on a par with the international standards to improve the process of manufacturing of medicines.
Dr Mirza has regularly been drawing the attention of the public and their representatives to the inadequacies of our healthcare sector and what needs to be done to overcome these issues. Spurious medicines and exorbitant prices of medicines are issues of utmost importance.
Opposition’s protest
Government efforts to deal with the upcoming opposition protest led by the JUI-F continue — both through negotiations as well as through administrative measures to thwart the threat of an intended lockdown of the federal capital. The Red Zone in the capital city has been blocked off with containers and barbed wires, water cannons have been readied, and riot-gear police alerted — as October 27, the day the anti-government protest is programmed to start, looms. Besides, steps are afoot to restrict supporters of the movement, the JUI-F workers in particular, in other parts of the country.
The talks option, however, doesn’t seem to be working in a manner the government may have desired. In what is reflective of the heat that is reaching the power corridors, the government has accepted a key pre-condition set by the opposition for the talks to start. On Monday, the opposition had made it clear that the option of negotiations is subject to the government permission for a peaceful ‘Azadi March’ on October 27. And according to a brief statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday, the government has allowed the opposition to go ahead with its protest march “as long as the everyday life of citizens is not adversely affected, as outlined by past judgments of the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court”.
The government’s permission clearly means that there will be no talks before the protest — something that shows its helplessness to quell the challenge in time. The government is understood to know full well that the situation could snowball, given its growing dislike among the various groups of professionals like doctors, lawyers and teachers — and more significantly traders. But it appears to have no solution at hand right now other than expecting the opposition protesters to disperse peacefully after the march, as agreed. However, even if that happens, the ‘Azadi March’ could set the ball rolling against the government. The only solution for the government is to deliver, especially with regard to the economy. Has the PM forgotten that during his cricket days, he would let his props — bat and ball — do the talking?