Govt to form committee to decide PIA sell-off

Committee to comprise opposition members from National Assembly and Senate

ISLAMABAD:

Opposition members in the lower house of parliament on Wednesday ended their two-day boycott over the national airline’s privatisation issue, as the government agreed to adopt a different course of action.

The closed-door huddle between the National Assembly’s opposition members and the government to discuss the pressing subject of the Pakistan International Airlines’ denationalisation was successful, as both parties agreed on forming a representative committee comprising both houses of parliament.



NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq sought names of members from the opposition parties for the joint committee, and has contacted Raza Rabbani, chairman of the upper house, for nominations from the Senate. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said a notification of the body’s formation would be issued in a day or two.

With one voice the NA opposition informed the government that they would not compromise over the privatisation issue and that the representative committee would decide the fate of the national flag carrier. The opposition members said representatives of the PIA union would also be called during the briefing of experts.

The NA opposition and the government debated in the speaker’s chamber on Wednesday, while a session of the lower house was also under way.



Dar tried to persuade the opposition for PIA’s privatisation and for additional taxes to the tune of Rs40 billion.

However, the NA lawmakers turned down the government’s decision on privatisation of 26% shares of the airline. They said efforts would be made to support the expenditures for PIA’s improvement, adding that there was no need to privatise the flag carrier.

In the end, the government and NA opposition agreed on forming a representative committee on the airline’s privatisation.

NA opposition leader Khursheed Shah, Naveed Qamar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Sahibzada Tariqullah, Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao and Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed represented the opposition.



After the discussion, Dar told the NA session that the huddle had decided to establish a joint committee to formulate a strategy for improving the PIA.

He said the body would address the employees’ reservations and no employee would be discharged from the flag carrier. He said the airline was faced with Rs42 billion deficit, which was reduced to Rs21 billion.

Shah Mehmood advised the finance minister against making controversial statements in the house, as “we have not agreed on anything”.



Khursheed Shah clarified before the house that the meeting had only agreed on forming a joint committee and not discussed privatisation of 26% shares of the PIA. The committee will be briefed by experts and the privatisation minister, he added.

JI parliamentary leader Sahibzada Tariqullah claimed that the government makes decisions first and consults with others later.

Commenting on the recent local government elections, he said that many independent candidates won in Punjab, “which shows that the people do not trust the government and political parties”.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader welcomed Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Pakistan and stressed the need for peace between the two countries and the entire region.

He also termed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s visit ‘very significant’, saying that Afghanistan’s peace was essential for the entire region.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th,  2015.