KARACHI: Politicians, lawyers and representatives of labour organisations at a conference on Friday said the ‘IMF-dictated’ policies of the government were against the interest of the people and demanded that the government stay away from privatising state-run establishments such as the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), as it would push more people towards poverty and ignite unrest in the country.

The conference, organised by the National Party, was presided over by its head Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo along with former Balochistan chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch.

At the conference, tribute was paid to the two protesting PIA employees who had been shot dead during a demonstration against the privatisation of the national flag carrier.

The speakers said the government had accepted several preconditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for rescheduling of instalments for paying debts, which were against public interest. The preconditions, they added, included privatisation of national organisations which served the nation and provided jobs to a large number of people.

“Such imperialistic agreements,” said a resolution presented in the meeting, “were causing increasing unemployment and skyrocketing prices of commodities.”

It said the ruling class was falsely propagating that such institutions were running in deficit. The government had planned downsizing in national institutions only to parcel them out to their preferred individuals at throwaway prices, the resolution stated.

It said Pakistan’s ruling class in cahoots with a corrupt bureaucracy wanted to dole out national establishments worth billions, which should be resisted with effective measures. It called upon political parties and labour organisations to unite under one umbrella and evolve a consensus strategy to stop the government from selling out PIA, PSM and other such organisations.

In his presidential speech, Senator Bizenjo said none of the organisations which had been privatised led to an ideal outcome so far though their labourers and employees were in a difficult situation. In some cases, the government could not even get full amount of the price at which it sold out the assets, he said.

“We are with labourers and ready to sacrifice anything. We are with trade unions in their struggle for their rights,” said Mr Bizenjo. However, he added, as political parties and unions were not playing their due role in resisting the government’s privatisation policy it was crucial for labourers to form a movement to restrain the government from privatising the national assets.

Dr Malik Baloch, a central leader of the National Party, said his party would oppose privatisation with full force. However, he said employees must realise that they had obligations to execute apart from vying for their rights. He gave the example of government schools in Balochistan where teachers were paid between Rs40,000 and Rs150,000 per month, yet the standard of their schools was way less than those being run in the private sector.

He said it was time liberal and secular forces shunned opportunism and pulled together their strengths to successfully strive for their rights.

Karamat Ali, Asad Iqbal Butt, Habibuddin Junaidi, Ramzan Memon, Sohail Baloch and representatives of the unions of several institutions also spoke.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2016