PIA pilots' issue: PPP, PML-N demand PM, aviation minister's resignation

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Thursday demanded resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan over PIA pilots issue.

Parliamentary leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Senate Senator Sherry Rehman Thursday demands resignation of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials and Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan.

“We have demanded resignation from both CAA officials and the Aviation minister after this disappointing meeting. We have all done it when it was needed. The nation will respect the minister for admitting his fault and resigning,” she said while talking to the media after attending the meeting of Senate’s Aviation Committee on Thursday.

Sherry Rehman said after 2 hours of solid questioning, the CAA and Aviation minister statements are not matching and it is alarming that no one is taking responsibility for anything while PIA remains grounded. She said no one could tell how many licences were issued and from where. “The Aviation minister was adamant that he did the right thing. While we have been telling them that this issue needs to be resolved tactfully. Why was this done publicly,” she said.

Commenting on the fake degree scandal, she said there is no certainty if the licences are fake or genuine as they have been making contradictory statements since day one. “Today, we do not even know who is actually investigating this issue,” she said. She said it is shocking that no one is ready to take responsibility. “For the last 15 months, we were requesting the federal government to scrutinize all of this but the federal government conveniently disregarded our concerns,” she said.

She said the government is giving the wrong impression that the minister has satisfied the committee. “When in fact the entire Civil Aviation division and the Aviation minister were not able to satisfy anyone nor could they match their statements,” she added.

She said after this meeting she doesn’t see any hope from them. “I don’t think they can stabilise PIA. Who is responsible for our pilots and PIA’s downgrading? Do they have any action plan? We have not been given any clarification. Even we knew there is an issue which needs to be resolved but what did they do instead? Nothing,” she said.

She said that instead of investigating the issue first, the minister first gave a statement and then said that we will investigate. “This has led to sheer embarrassment for the country,” she said.

Sherry Rehman said PIA is our national flag carrier and should not have been treated in this manner. Pakistan’s image has been tarnished,” the Senator added.

Highlighting the Roosevelt Hotel issue, she said the explanation offered for the sale of the Roosevelt Hotel is flimsy and pointless. She said the claim in committee is that the sale of a profitable hotel was “only made after COVID-19 onset, in anticipation of reduced business and profits, whereas, the task force to sell it was made in 2019.

She said after very recent public furor this notorious task force was de-notified and the relevant Aviation Ministry was actually included. “No contradiction has come from any quarter about alleged interest of developers in the Trump family and non-official people and assorted advisors in the federal government. The Aviation minister claimed feebly that no such plan was on the anvil,” she added.

She said this hotel carries cultural significance for Pakistan and we will not let it go like this. “This is not the time to sell Roosevelt Hotel New York, when due to pandemic property prices have come down significantly and it will result in a loss to Pakistan as we won’t get the right price,” she added.

Parliamentary Leader of the PPP in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman concluded by saying,

The PPP said the government has not yet taken any notice of the threat by Ehsanullah Ehsan to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

“Ehsanullah Ehsan had fled the safe house but the government has not come out clean on his escape. This is the reason that the people and PPP call Imran Khan as “Taliban Khan”, said Secretary Information PPP Dr Nafisa Shah while addressing a press conference here Thursday along with Deputy Information Secretary of PPP Ms Palwasha Khan, Haider Zaman and Nazir Dhoki here Thursday.

In the press conference, leaders of the PPP also claimed that US passport of Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda is still valid and the PPP will approach Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) with this valid passport.

Dr Nafisa Shah said Prime Minister Imran Khan is imposed on Pakistan as an epidemic and engulfing Pakistan from one crisis to another. She said that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has challenged selected Prime Minister Imran Khan for debate on national issues on every forum including the Parliament.

She said Bilawal has challenged the government to show even one hospital in Punjab and KP like NICVD in Sindh. “The PTI has not yet responded regarding its relation with Abraj Group which is a financer of Imran Khan,” she said, adding that the government has also not answered questions about the mega corruption in BRT Project and Malam Jabba.

Dr Nafisa Shah said PIA suffered losses of billions of rupees due to irresponsible statement of aviation minister. “Now, Civil Aviation is asking every country to restore Pakistani pilots because their licences are not fake. Not even any enemy country can render so much losses to Pakistan as this Aviation Ministry has done,” she said. She said that PPP vows to raise its voice for honest pilots and employees of PIA.

Palwasha Khan said that the threat by Ehsanullah Ehsan to Bilawal is directly linked with Imran Niazi. “The government when failed to frighten Bilawal Bhutto Zardari from NAB so terrorists were brought to the fore to threaten him,” she said.

She said Imran’s government has started trade with India and we ask Imran Khan that on whose orders, this trade is being started through Wagah border. “The government has failed to answer any question asked by Mrs. Justice Qazi Faez Isa. Imran Khan and his friends are a bunch of “Banarasi Thugs,” she said.

She said that whenever Imran is asked about corruptions by the Abraaj Group and foreign funding of his party then the threats are delivered by terrorists but he should not forget that Bilawal Bhutto is the son of a great leader who openly challenged these terrorists. She said that PPP will continue to raise the issue of corruption of Aleema Khan and Imran Khan and nothing can frighten us.

Haider Zaman Qureshi said that federal minister Faisal Vawda is a cowboy whose US passport is still valid. “The passport number is 530572047 and on his birthday is mentioned as October 21, 1973 date of issuance is May 22, 2015 and expiry on May 21, 2025,” he said. He said that Imran is the king of corruption and his entire family is involved in corruption. “A video of the cousin of Imran Khan is doing circles,” he said.

Qureshi said that not a single employee in the ministry of Murad Saeed has been promoted despite the approval of the cabinet. “All the motorways are deteriorating fast and no work is being done on any of the motorways,” he said. He said that growers of the country do not have seeds and fertilizers, “The price of a bag of flour has gone up by Rs300,” he said.

He said the PPP will continue to expose the corruption of this corrupt government. “Ali Zaidi does not even know the meaning of JIT. These kinds of issues are raised by the government to divert people’s attention from the real issues,” he said.

He said the PPP will not allow selling of national assets like PIA and Steel Mills. He said that on 5th of August, Imran Khan will stage a drama for Kashmiri people whereas he has sold Kashmiri blood.

Meanwhile, PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif has demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan to resign for spoiling national flag carrier PIA’s image, causing losses of billions of rupees and embarrassing Pakistan internationally with his government’s statements that turned out to be false.

In a statement Thursday, Shahbaz said after the letter issued by the director general Civil Aviation Authority, there is no doubt that action must be taken against Imran Khan and the minister concerned. He said incompetent Imran and his minister were responsible for incurring losses of billions of rupees to the national airline. He said the world will now question the authenticity of the report and the minister’s ability to read the report that led to these catastrophic consequences for PIA. He said the world would be at a loss to decide whether to trust the minister who gave such scathing statements on PM’s instruction or the CAA director general. He questioned as to who should be punished for this false statement by the minister on the floor of the National Assembly. Who will pay for the financial losses, who will make up for the damage to the livelihoods of expatriates. He said it is not the pilots but the prime minister and his ministers who are fake.