Bilawal vows to foil attempts to privatize PIA and PSM

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday vowed to foil attempts by the federal government to sell national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and country’s largest industrial mega-corporation complex Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM)

The PPP chairman while presiding over a meeting of party leaders asked government to shelve privatization of these state units forthwith.

The meeting was attended by former Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani, PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Karachi President Saeed Ghani and Information Minister Syed Nasir Shah.

Bilawal said that PIA and PSM are owned by the people of Pakistan, who will not allow to put these national assets under the hammer in a dubious manner through ‘buy one and get one free’ package.

He was referring to recent comments by Minister for State for Financial Affairs Miftah Ismail who offered to hand over PSM for free to the investor who agrees to buy the loss-making PIA. Ismail was adman to sell the PIA which incurs an annual loss of Rs40 billio, while the PSM pay Rs400 million per month to workers.

Bilawal further said that it was height of dishonesty that a prime minister who is running his private airline in profit and capturing the market and routes of national carrier was adamant to sell out PIA.

Likewise, Nawaz Sharif and his family were running his personal steel mills in huge profit at home and abroad, and were deliberately dragging Pakistan Steel Mills to the verge collapse to form their personal steel cartel.

He asked PPP leaders to raise voice against the privatization of both PIA and PSM at every forum and expressed complete solidarity with employees of these state corporations.