Summary A hundred angry legislators have signed to requisition the assembly session.
Dunya New Report (Shahzad Badar)
The whiffs of spring offensive against the Sharif government are in the air. The political turbulence caused by the PIA protestors is going to be felt nationwide when the opposition parties take up the petrol price agenda and PIA privatization issue in the Senate and National Assembly.
A hundred angry legislators have signed to requisition the assembly session and under the leadership of Khursheed Shah, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, agreed to hammer the government under a unified strategy. The opposition wants to have the petrol price cut down to Rs.40 and discuss the privatization policy.
A clear signal has been given to the Sharif government by the PPP that the opposition in the Parliament is gearing up for a change and will use its teeth and bite with force. The past philosophy of reconciliation has been dumped by Asif Zardari as the severity of the Rangers operation hit its leaders and accomplices in the civil bureaucracy. The Rangers have started investigating links of Baloch National Front a terrorist organization funded by Indian agencies to PPP’s high command. The likes of Ozair Baloch, Dr. Asim and Dr. Zulfikar Mirza have put the party into severe stress compelling many including the chief to abscond and seek refuge abroad.
The MQM, PTI, PPP, JI are all in an offensive mood waiting for the right moment to strike Sharif down and extract their pound of flesh. Sharif, Modi reconciliation ending in Pathankot fiasco, his inability to reign in the Rangers in Karachi and breakdown of his friendly relations with PPP all signal the weakening of Sharif’s government. The failure of the National Action Plan to complement Zarb-e- Azab will also haunt the PM and his interior minister, as the army keeps hammering the message that the civilian administration is not providing the legal and political backup to make their offensive against the terrorists a complete success. To add to the PM worries, Khursheed Shah is demanding a judicial probe in the Taliban attacks on education institutes in KPK.
The army too has distanced its self from the government – news channels and papers all of a sudden, simultaneously announced that the army chief was not interested in any extension of his tenure and would like to retire with dignity and honor; unlike others who always scooped down to strike deals with the politicians.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has made the right calculations and has blamed the political parties for the prevailing political anarchy and the sudden surge of aggressiveness in the protesting workers. Despite job guarantees by the prime minister, his information minister and the Chairman of PIA the PIA union which is mostly composed of PPP jialas over reacted and have disrupted the airlines local and international flight schedules.
The death of two PIA employees will surely be exploited by the opposition to gain political mileage and instigate anti- Nawaz sentiments in the streets.
The PPP has always opposed the privatization of government units and it is opposing it tooth and nail putting the privatization of PIA into jeopardy. The government is under obligation to privatize units that are draining its resources. It had assured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of privatizing Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan in 2016. Twenty six percent of PIA shares have to be handed over to private entities by June this year.
The Opposition parties have united on a single platform to discourage the process of privatization causing PIA a loss of rupees 100 million per day.
There are clear signs that the friendly weather in the National Assembly and outside in its lawns will change into a political blizzard. Imran Khan has threatened to initiate a nationwide protest campaign and bring back his container in the D- Chowk on 6th Feburary.
Putting a ban on all union activities for six month and threats to fire workers disrupting the airline operations has had little impact on the workers who have brought PIA to hault.
He said the PIA employees could not be blamed for the destruction of their department but the management could, as only 17 percent was spent on salaries of employees and the remaining 83 percent on the salaries of management.
The Prime Minister with the heavy mandate in the National Assembly will have to face the spring offensive alone and downsize the PIA management which is reported to consume 83 percent of the budget. While 400 pilots on the airline payroll fly planes only in dreams. END
