INTERVIEW: ‘No selling national assets’ –Naeemul Haque, Information Secretary, PTI

This loot maar needs to end now

Naeemul Haque is Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) information secretary. Before jumping into politics, Naeem was a banker by profession. He served for 40 years in the banking sector including eight years in Wall Street, New York, and 10 years in London.

He has also served as the chief to staff to Imran Khan. He is a longtime associate of Imran and a founding member of PTI. Naeemul Haque is also a member of the Central Executive Committee of PTI since its inception in 1996 and remains close associate of the chairman.

He has served as the Managing Director of Aero Asia Airlines, Chief Financial Officer of Schon Group and the Vice President of Oriental Bank of Commerce. He has also served as a financial consultant for a number of firms around the world for about 35 years.

Keeping in view his professional background, Pakistan Today decided to know as to how PTI would deal with the burning issues of privatisation of PSEs, including the issue of PIA.

Question: How do you see PML-N government’s privatisation policy? Are loss-making PSEs to be privatised, restructured, or left alone, especially considering PIA’s case?

Naeemul Haque: The privatisation policy of the incumbent government is based on double standards. On the one hand they are talking about privatising Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and on the other they are announcing to launch a new airline in the public sector.

Now it seems as if the government has a distorted vision of taking Pakistan into a new era and the prime minister and his economic team is confused about the way forward. The government’s overall economic policy, if any, is based on borrowing and more borrowing without any policy of real economic growth.

PTI believes that there should be a clearly defined long-term economic approach towards Pakistan’s economic problems, which involves equal emphasis on increasing industrial and agricultural production.

We think that a number of Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) need to be restructured. However, selected units can be privatised. But this process should be carried out after a thorough analysis.

What makes me more concerned about this PIA fiasco is the way the government has been dealing with the matter since they took over from the previous government.

In the beginning, the government appointed its blue-eyed Shujaat Azeem to deal with the airliner who further destroyed the already decaying national flag carrier. The way sons and brothers of sitting ministers were elevated and the way favourites were posted against key posts, serious doubts were raised about the handling of PIA.

Once Shujaat Azeem was ousted by the court, the government announced to privatise the airliner. Some very senior officers in PIA believe the carrier is being sold to a very close relative of the prime minister. PTI would never allow the sell-out of national assets.

Q: What are the salient features of the PTI’s policy on privatisation? How would PTI deal with this issue once in power?‎

NH: PTI believes that a multi-pronged approach should be adopted with regard to the privatisation process. We think that some sick units need to restructured and turned into profitable entities while some decaying assets should be disposed of.

However, the critical issue is how job security would be provided to the employees working in those PSEs. This is a matter of real concern for PTI Chairman Imran Khan, who wants job security for all employees working in the sick units.

Whenever Allah would bless the PTI into government, job security of all units would be the topmost priority of the PTI.

Considering how PIA was stuffed with appointments made on political grounds, it is beyond imagination how the government would plug haemorrhage of billions of rupees each year.

Q: Why have successive governments lacked the courage to take necessary reforms while PIA has remained a public entity? Why is it one of the worst airlines in the world in terms of over-staffing? Why must the government wait for privatisation, etc, for even the basic, text-book steps to be taken?

NH: Successive governments lacked appropriate acumen to carry out necessary reforms in the PSEs including Pakistan Railways, Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Steel Mills, etc.

PIA needs to diversify with massive restructuring in areas like engineering, airport management and hotelling.

Q: The ruling party has been accused of unclear and non-transparent decision making over a number of issues, and privatisation is no exception. According to reports, all decisions are the exclusive domain of the prime minister’s tightly knit kitchen cabinet, and even relevant ministers are often kept in the dark. Your perception?

NH: It is true that all important decisions are being taken solely by the Sharif brothers — Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab, which is lamentable. Both are looking the out for the interests of their family, friends and extended family members.

Undoubtedly it is the two brothers who are taking the most important decisions, as they are little bothered about taking other party leaders on board. Even the relevant ministers are being ignored and kept in the dark about issues of significance. The way the two brothers are running the affairs of the government raise many eyebrows and put a question mark on the transparency and fairness of all their decisions due to which they are facing strong opposition from all fronts.

PTI will not allow any major privatisation without proper discussion in the parliament and the Council of Common Interest (CCI).

We will safeguard the interests of the state of Pakistan and its people. We will never allow loot and plunder of state assets. This loot maar needs to end now.

We will hold the plunderers of national assets to account. We will never allow robbers to run away with their booty. They will have to be answerable before the people of Pakistan.

In the wake of a ‘Muk-Muka’ between the PML-N and PPP, the eyes of the people of Pakistan are now set on PTI and its chairman Imran Khan. PTI will safeguard national assets, which will be protected for our future generations.