- Expresses concern airline would be sold to ‘whoever you want however you want’
ISLAMABAD: PPP Senator Saleem Mandviwalla on Sunday called into question the “selected privatisation” of Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA), expressing serious concern that procedure was not being followed in the privatization of the state asset.
Speaking during an interview on a private TV channel, Mandviwalla said he had come to know about a meeting on the “disinvestment of the PIA” chaired by Interim Privatisation Minister Fawad Hasan Fawad, which was also attended by PML-N stalwart Saad Rafique, who had been railways and aviation minister in the last PDM government.
“Now you tell me what is this? You (PML-N) are saying we (PPP) agreed to the privatisation and allowed the caretaker government to do so, but if a previous minister is attending that meeting then this is selected privatisation instead of being transparent,” the PPP stalwart said.
With the appointed a financial adviser for the transaction by the Board of Privatisation Commission, the formal process for the divestment of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIACL) commenced on Friday.
The national flag-carrier has been plagued with crisis after crisis as Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has refused to supply fuel to the airline on account of payment issues. The weeks-long ordeal led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights, pushing the national carrier to the verge of collapse.
The PPP senator said he was concerned that the airline would be sold to “whoever you want however you want”.
“There will be no transparency and then obviously, the people we will protest. We will protest politically and PIA employees, everyone, will protest. People will go to court as well,” he added.
When asked whether he thought the PML-N was “on board” with the privatisation process, Mandviwalla said: “[Obviously], the PML-N is doing it.”
Senator Mandviwalla again questioned the capacity in which Rafique attended the meeting.
The senator when asked to comment on the perception that the airline would be sold to some blue-eyed boy of the PML-N, replied that this was not a mere perception but “a fact”.
“When you do privatisation like this then you must have prepared a buyer and done an agreement with them that ‘no one else will bid in the privatisation so we will give to you’,” Mandviwalla said.
He reiterated that privatisation carried out in such a manner would not be acceptable to the PPP and the party would protest against it.
Earlier, PPP Senator Raza Rabbani had also opposed PIA’s privatisation in all its forms and said: “It seems questionable that PIA planes were functioning normally when the fuel supply was abruptly halted and then resumed. There should be an investigation into the precise events.”
He had sought an inquiry into PSO’s refusal to supply fuel. “Through a deliberate campaign … PIA is being prepared for a loot sale,” he had said.
The PIA’s recent descent came after the government said in August it would privatise the airline as part of a fiscal discipline plan agreed under an International Monetary Fund bailout.
This made some stakeholders question whether the national airline was being prepared for “a loot sale” through a deliberate campaign. The government’s plans have also ignited concerns among PIA staff, who are worried about their job security and benefits.
