Daily Times

The ongoing strike by the anti-privatisation workers has forced the government to review its plans of selling a stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to a strategic partner. After four days of protests, the government has bowed to the pressure as the airline has been facing colossal losses due to the suspension of administrative work and bookings at PIA offices. On January 29, PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan announced that the government had postponed plans for the privatisation of the national flag carrier for six months and requested the protesting workers to end their strike. Can PIA become a profitable organisation in just six months given its accumulated and continuing losses? In fact, these are poor tactics applied by the government to buy time for the implementation of its wrong policies. It has become a routine that the government does not take matters seriously until things start getting out of control. Not only is the public facing inconvenience, the country’s image has been tarnished at the international level due to this PIA fiasco. From the very start, the government has not tackled the issue of PIA with any wisdom. The government needs to understand that in a democratic system, arbitrary and dictatorial decisions can no longer be pursued with impunity. The PML-N government rammed the PIA privatisation bill through the National Assembly on January 22 during the absence of the opposition. Despite the fact that the bill could not be passed in the Senate without taking the opposition into confidence, the government continued to work on its own whims. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah has said that the opposition would not let the government pass the PIA privatisation bill in the Senate.

By deferring the privatisation for six months, the government is again following its own agenda. The government has offered its own terms and conditions to PIA workers and asked them to come to the negotiating table. Senator Mushahidullah has threatened that the Essential Services Act would be invoked if matters were not solved through dialogue. Due to its wrong approach, the government has created a crisis situation. Instead of making hasty decisions, the government needs to take the opposition and the employees of PIA into confidence. PIA is not a small entity. Rather it is a national organisation having great strategic importance. It cannot be privatised without any debate in parliament and addressing the genuine concerns of its employees. Before taking any extreme step, the government should take stock of all the pros and cons related to the privatisation of PIA through a thorough debate in parliament. *