Sardar Zulfiqar Aziz;
Paris,(Parliament Times): It is for the first time since 1945, the state of France called of military parade along famous avenue Champs- Elysee on July 14 because of corona pandemic.Normally, the day commemorates the storming of “The Bastille Prison”, in 1789 by an uncontrollable mob, just at the start of French Revolution. The French government decided to minimise the strength of soldiers by half the number round about 2000, gathered at Place de La Concorde for a reduced size ceremony, in which health workers , on the front line of corona pandemic, were given Pride of Place. Later in a detailed interview with mainstream media French President Emmanuel Macron hinted at the second wave of the virus that already has killed over 30,000 people in France. Mr Macron said he wanted face masks to be made compulsory in all indoor ( enclosed) public spaces and places from August 1- recently a much advocated measure by prominent doctors. He also told media persons that France will be ready in the event of a second wave, pledging increasing testing and tracing efforts across the country. Macron assured that France will be amongst the first states to buy any future vaccine by pharmaceutical giant Sanofi.
The French opposition blames the Macron government of miscalculating and mishandling the medical crisis which they think is of gigantic nature. Mr Macron has recently changed his premier and also pledged billions of euros to minimise the damage done to the country’s economy by the pandemic. This will be a challenging huge task in the coming 22 months for his government when he has to face tough re-election competition in 2022.