PIA made company bypassing parliament

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain on Saturday promulgated an ordinance to convert the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) into a company, paving the way for the sale of its 26 percent shares to a strategic partner under an ambitious privatization plan.
The PIA Act 1956 has been repealed with immediate effect through the presidential ordinance. Now it seems economic issues would echo in parliament instead of a political debate that might pave the way for establishing a joint opposition alliance against the government on taxation and privatisation plans.
In a bid to fulfill IMF conditions under the $6.62 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the government is committed to going ahead with the privatisation of PIA by selling its shares along with management control to a potential buyer within the ongoing financial year ending on June 30, 2016.
The government has removed legal hitches in the way of giving management control to the potential buyer by bypassing parliament as it has issued an ordinance just two days prior to the parliamentary session commencing from Monday (tomorrow). Through the presidential ordinance, the government has converted the corporation into a company. All employees of the corporation shall be deemed to be employees of the company on the same remuneration and other conditions of services, rights, and privileges including but not limited to the provisions as to their pensions, provident fund and gratuity, as the case may be and other matters as were applicable to them before the conversion provided that notwithstanding anything contained in this ordinance or any other law or any other decision of the court, tribunal or employees of the company shall continue to be governed by non statutory contractual terms and conditions, rules and regulations and such terms shall not acquire.
The ordinance will lapse in 120 days so the government will have to present this piece of legislation before parliament.
Although the IMF did not seem satisfied with the temporary arrangements, Islamabad’s economic managers moved ahead with the Fund’s blessings. The IMF has reposed confidence in the government’s efforts to sell off PIA shares through ad hoc measure of issuing an ordinance to this effect.
Although, the mainstream opposition party in parliament had announced to extend its all-out opposition to the privatization plan, the government decided to consult the PPP for smooth sailing in the upper house of parliament where the ruling party PML-N lacks a majority.