Bilawal Bhutto advocates public-private partnership over privatisation

KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto once again opposed privatisation of state-owned institutions and recommended the government to operate them under a public-private partnership, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The remarks came as the incumbent government is all set to privatise state-owned institutions, including Pakistan International Airline (PIA), which has piled up arrears of hundreds of billions of rupees.

PIA’s privatisation aligns with the government’s commitment to structural economic reforms under the International Monetary Fund’s financial assistance programs.

As many as three Gulf countries including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have shown interest in buying the cash-strapped Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as the government expedites its privatisation plan.

“Our [PPP] stance on privatisation of national carrier and Pakistan Steel Mills [PSM] is clear – we are against it,” Bilawal Bhutto said while speaking at an event on the occasion of Labour Day in Karachi.

He pointed out that Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb also approves of public-private partnership. “We urge him [Aurangzeb] not to privatise PIA and revive it under public-private partnership,” he added.

Furthermore, the former foreign minister said if the incumbent government cannot revive the Pakistan Steel Mill, it should hand it over to the Sindh government and “we will run it under a public-private partnership”.

He expressed optimism that both the Sindh and Balochistan governments would increase wages, while also expecting the federal government to raise wages. “Our philosophy is simple; workers should be rewarded for their hard work,” he said.

Bilawal Bhutto noted that former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had given a Constitution that mentions workers and acknowledges their hard work, granting them the right to unionise.

“The Sindh government has also passed laws in favour of workers’ rights; no province can compete with us in this matter,” he concluded.