Pakistan: PPP lawmakers stage walkout from National Assembly over absence of ministers

Pakistan's Federal Minister for Law, Azam Nazeer Tarar, was the only minister present in the lower house presided over by Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa when the National Assembly session resumed on Thursday.

In his remarks in the assembly, PPP leader Naveed Qamar expressed concerns about the ongoing discussions on privatizing the national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) again. He asked about the timeframe for the privatization process and questioned whether steps had been taken to improve the process.

Azam Nazeer Tarar assured the house of a more favourable outcome, stressing that PIA would continue to be a state-owned enterprise, with the government owning majority of the shares, according to The Express Tribune report.

There was just one bid of Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 10 billion for 60 per cent stake of PIA during the final bidding process for the privatisation of the national flag carrier in October.

Earlier in June, the Pakistan government had pre-qualified six groups. But, only real-estate development firm Blue World City participated in the bidding process, placing a bid that was below the government-set minimum price of PKR 85 billion.

Pakistan wanted to offload a 51-100 per cent stake in debt-ridden PIA to raise funds and reform state-owned enterprises as envisaged under a USD 7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

The Privatisation Commission said it had asked the bidder to match the minimum bid. However, the Blue World City Chairman Saad Nazir remained firm on its bid.

During the Thursday sitting, Parliamentary Secretary for Privatization MNA Aasia Ishaque shared detailed update on PIA's fleet and workforce. According to Ishaque, out of PIA's 34 aircraft, only 17 are operational, with 12 unusable, The Express Tribune reported.

She said that 7,300 people are employed with PIA, with an annual payroll of PKR 35 billion. Defending the privatisation process, Aasia Ishaque stressed that it is unfair to blame the Privatization Commission and the ministry for past failures.

PPP Member of National Assembly (MNA) Nabeel Gabol said there is confusion about the airline's CEO, as the position is currently held by an acting official. Tarar said that the tenure of the previous CEO had ended.

PPP MNA Abdul Qadir Patel warned that PIA's privatization could result in higher ticket prices, predicting fare for travelling from Karachi-Lahore and Karachi-Islamabad could increase to PKR 300,000.

PPP MNA Mirza Ikhtiar Baig criticized the earlier bidding process, terming it unprofessional, and called for professional roadshows to attract better investors.

Meanwhile, Ramesh Lal and other members held protest over the lack of development funds, holding placards in front of the speaker's dais. Later, the PPP lawmakers staged a walkout in protest against the absence of ministers from the house. Subsequently, the assembly session was adjourned indefinitely. (ANI)