ISLAMABAD: The opposition in the National Assembly and the Senate on Tuesday submitted requisitions for convening separate sessions of both the houses to take up the issue of proposed privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
The government on Monday extended the Essential Service Maintenance Act 1952 to the airline for six months banning union activities.
The Senate opposition requisitioned the session to discuss the killing of two PIA employees, enforcement of Essential Service Maintenance Act 1952, the government’s decision to burden gas consumers with an additional Rs101 billion and depriving the masses of full benefit of massive reduction in petroleum prices in the international market.
Senators from the PPP, MQM, PTI, PML-Q and BNP-A signed the requisition.In the National Assembly, over 100 legislators belonging to all the opposition parties signed the requisition.
The proposed privatisation of PIA tops the agenda of the requisition followed by insufficient price reduction in petroleum prices in the wake of a drastic cut in the prices of petroleum products in the international market.
Prior to submitting the requisition, PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi and JI parliamentary leader Sahibzada Tariqullah met with the Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah in his chamber at the Parliament House to discuss the country’s political situation and to finalise the requisition.
It was unanimously agreed to adopt a joint strategy in the National Assembly on the issue of PIA’s privatisation. The recent decline in petroleum prices also came under discussion.The opposition leaders termed the decrease in the rates of petroleum products a joke after a massive cut in their prices in the international market.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had proposed Rs7.56 per litre reduction in the petrol price but the government approved only Rs5 cut.Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Khursheed said the way a senior minister of Nawaz government had threatened the PIA workers did not suit those believing in democracy.
“It seems the government is adopting the same tactics of black days of dictator Zia’s regime when the voices of dissent were gagged. The spirit of Zia seems to have possessed the government,” he added.
He said when the opposition protested against the bill on tax amnesty scheme, instead of holding a dialogue the government got the billed passed in its absence.Khursheed said whenever he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he always claimed he would be the last man to support PIA’s privatisation.
“If the bill on PIA’s privatisation was sent to the Senate, then it would be easily rejected,” he added.Condemning the killing of PIA employees, Khursheed said the government should avoid a repeat of the Model Town incident. “The government should tell who was responsible for the killing of two PIA employees,” he added.
He said the PIA employees could not be blamed for the destruction of their department but the management could, as only 17 percent was spent on salaries of employees and the remaining 83 percent on the salaries of management.
He said everyone was a witness how the Rangers were used against the PIA employees while the police were present for the safety of public property.“The matter should be investigated through a judicial commission,” he added.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the opposition was united against the privatisation of PIA. He said the government had tried to divide the PIA employees but failed and now all the employees were united against the privatisation.
He held the government responsible for the killing of two PIA employees.Talking about a cut in the petroleum prices, Qureshi said the government had passed only half of the relief on to the consumers. He said the PTI had given a clear message to the labourers that it stood on their side.
Meanwhile, former president and President Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari strongly condemned the firing on the protesting PIA employees in Karachi. In a statement on Tuesday, Asif Ali Zardari demanded a judicial investigation into the incident.
In a separate message, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemned the use of brutal force against the protesting employees and asked the prime minister to desist from adopting dictatorial tactics.Bilawal expressed solidarity with the employees and assured them that the PPP stood against the privatisation of the national flag carrier.