The secretive ways the PML-N government works
The PIA has been in a bad shape for the last three decades and the situation has worsened with the passage of time. It is recurring heavy financial losses and is bedevilled by mismanagement that has battered the airline’s image. It suffers from frequent cancellations and delays and has been involved in numerous controversies over the years. Demands were, therefore, being made to privatise it. The decision by the government to covert it from a corporation to a limited company has however evoked strong reaction from the PPP and PIA employees. The former has never in the past opposed privatisation. But now it maintains that the PIA being a national asset, it is both unconstitutional and illegal to privatise it without the approval of the CCI. The PIA employees fear that many would lose jobs as a result of restructuring which would inevitably follow privatisation.
The fault lies with the secretive way the government takes decisions. The matter was never discussed within the government itself where some reportedly support a plan to revive the PIA while others want it to go under the hammer right away. Instead of pushing the issue under the carpet or flip-flopping over it, the government should have taken its privatisation policy before parliament, got it thoroughly discussed in the related committees to make the process transparent and have the concerns of the stakeholders addressed. Among other things certain measures should have been taken well in time to initiate improvements in the PIA to fetch a reasonable price. The legislation shy government however decided instead to rely on an Ordinance to change the status of PIA from a corporation to a limited company.
Thanks the style of governance of the PML-N, a lot of things are unclear now. The possibility of the privatisation plan being challenged in the court cannot be ruled out. It remains to be seen to what extent the PPP would support the PIA employees’ stand. And what is the future of an early privatisation of the PSM under the circumstances?