The temporary lull after the declared policy of ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) to privatise the country’s national flag carrier Pakistan Air Lines (PIA) is expected to be broken again. The soon to be held joint session of parliament to get this bill passed is expected to be a lot noisy.

On March 4, the Senate rejected the bill with a thumping majority. It rejected the bill titled "Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Corporation (Conversion) Bill, 2015" some weeks after it was passed by National Assembly. The government has simple majority in the lower house and managed to get it passed even amidst a boycott of the opposition parties.

Since the government lacks majority in the upper house, the bill was thrown out from the house. Also, all other major political parties are firmly opposed to this policy of privatisation of national entities. The bill has now been referred to a joint session of the parliament where the government can apparently show its majority easily.

The National Assembly had passed bill to make the PIA a private entity on January 21 as a step to "improve performance and financial position of the country’s national airline". The opposition members had strongly resisted the move and later the Senate also rejected the bill.

The story of PIA came into the limelight after the passage of that bill -- in early February when the PIA workers unions opposed it. The government used force to crush the power of workers. Airports of the country turned into battlefields between the PIA workers and government’s law enforcement squads. Government sprayed bullets and tear gas to diffuse protests that led to suspension of PIA flights for more than a week. According to government reports, three PIA workers died and many were injured in this protest movement.

The government had also implemented the Essential Services Act to force PIA workers to come on duty and took disciplinary action against dozens protesting employees. Show cause notices have been served on many PIA workers for participating in the protests and a number of daily wagers have been terminated on charges of agitation.

Article 70, clause 3 of the Constitution of Pakistan says "If a Bill transmitted to a House under clause is rejected or is not passed within ninety days of its laying in the House or a Bill sent to a House with amendments is not passed by that House with such amendments, the Bill, at the request of the House in which it originated, shall be considered in a joint sitting and if passed by the votes of the majority of the members present and voting in the joint sitting it shall be presented to the President for assent."

However, it will still be unusual if a bill rejected by the Senate on a controversial issue is passed through a hastily called joint sitting of the parliament. There is a chance that the government may bring some more bills which it thinks might face opposition such as diluting the powers of National Accountability Bureau.

"Yes, there is no doubt that calling a joint session by treasury on a controversial issue of Pakistan International Airlines will cause resentment because the upper house has rejected this bill," says Javed Jabbar, analyst and former federal minister for information. "The bill ultimately would be passed since the ruling PML-N has majority in the lower house. So a joint sitting for this purpose, in a way, undermines the concept of equity of a federation because federation means all constituents are equal and Senate represents, both, equity and equality."

"Instead, the government should have gone for a broader debate, consensus and compromise engaging all opposing political sides. And there are good examples of political consensus in such sittings like passing of 18th Amendment and taking National Action Plan against terrorism," says Jabbar.

Jabbar says that the elected government of the day has to implement its economic policies. "PIA became a political issue later but privatisation was a part of PML-N manifesto in the last general elections. It has a responsibility to implement its manifesto and that is why it is using the option of joint sitting of parliament -- to do what they are committed to do."

PIA is a government entity with a fleet of only three dozen planes and more than 16,000 regular and around 3,000 contractual employees. According to the government, PIA is running losses to the tune of approximately Rs3 billion per month.

Under the proposed bill, the government aims to convert the airline from a corporation to a company under the Companies Ordinance, 1984 for developing a "healthy, competitive aviation sector" in Pakistan. According to statement of objects and reasons as described in the National Assembly, PIA was established under the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Act. 1956. But in the recent years the national flag carrier has not been able to fulfill its statutory mandate and it has been incurring huge financial losses and has become a burden on the national exchequer. The bill aims to modernise the airline to encourage injection of capital, skills and latest technology, to upgrade the airline operational and financial performance and to achieve improvement in performance and operational efficiency in various business segments of the airline.

After the bill is passed, PIA would become Pakistan Airways with logistic support from an airline of a friendly country in Gulf. It is also feared that large number of its workers -- mainly those on contract or daily wagers -- would be laid off.

Although talks between the government and PIA workers have started, the Joint Action Committee of PIA workers has a clear demand -- to postpone PIA’s privatisation for at least a year with signs of more political activism by the opposition parties in coming days.

Political parties assume that the government would easily manage the passage of this controversial and politically costly bill. Yet they view that this would create a serious impact on future politics since it has not been debated well.

Shafqat Mahmood, MNA Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, says that the rejection of the bill in the Senate is a defeat of the government but they have this constitutional leeway to make it possible. "Though such legislation without proper debate can pass in the joint sitting when the ruling party has clear majority in the National Assembly, our party, as per policy, would continue to oppose privatisation of such entities. We are in favour of improving their situation rather than making them independent entities."

Nadeem Afzal Chann, former MNA and senior leader of PPP from Punjab, says that Senate has bulldozed the PIA bill and if it is passed in a joint session it would definitely have a political impact. "All other political parties are on board on this issue of privatisation. If the PPP comes into power again, it would nationalise such entities."

He says the government is using its power rather than sorting out this issue through dialogue. He indicates his party would severely oppose this bill in the joint sitting of parliament. "We will definitely agitate."