Passing the buck? Previous govt responsible for PIA’s dismal state, says minister

State minister says last govt’s policies left corporation indebted

FAISALABAD: State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali said on Saturday that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had been operating in great loss due to the poorly conceived polices of the previous government.

The minister made the comments while speaking to newsmen after inaugurating a cricket tournament at the Bohranwali Ground. Ali said the previous government had also reinstated PIA employees who had been relieved of their responsibilities in 1992. The minister said a large amount of funds had also been doled out in the garb of clearing arrears. Ali said the airline had been left indebted due to these moves. He said the government had been striving to restructure the airline. The minister said all resources available would be used in this regard.

While he expressed grief over the recent deaths of PIA employees in a protest in Karachi, Ali said the government would not succumb to any pressure whatsoever in the form of protest demonstrations. The minister said the government was committed to restructuring PIA and would not budge from its stance. Declaring Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan mentally unfit, the minister said the leader had a habit of initiating a protest campaign whenever he caught sight of a few people up in arms. Ali said the PTI would not have been in a position to form a government in any province without Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif being amenable to it. However, he said, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had allowed the PTI supremo to govern the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). He said it was binding now on Khan to introduce reforms there and transform it into a model province. The state minster said the PTI had done nothing but stage anti-government protests over the last two-and-a-half years. He said the government had managed to effectively execute its development projects despite this. He said the PML-N would not allow anyone to squander public money. Earlier, the state minister announced prizes for winning teams after inaugurating the tournament.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2016.