LAHORE: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will join the protest demonstration against the privatisation of certain state enterprises and the dissolution of the Pakistan Works Department being organized in the city on Wednesday.

PPP leader and People’s Labour Bureau in charge Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed told a press conference on Monday that the PPP and the PLB have rejected the government’s privatization policy and would join the protest being held against the decision on July 3.

Arguing that no home could be run by selling its utensils, he alleged that the proponents of privatization were desirous of purchasing the state-owned entities.

Lamenting the closure of gas supply to the Pakistan Steel Mills, he demanded the government reveal the consortiums taking part in the bidding process for the privatization of state institutions.

Referring to the dissolution of the PWD in the near future, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the department was not working honestly, the PPP leader asked which state organization was working honestly and urged that on suspicion of fraud in the working of the employees of a department, the government should investigate the issue and penalize the guilty instead of closing it down.

Regarding the claims of overstaffing in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), he asked who had recruited two officers for each staff member in the national airliner.

He said that the PPP would vote against the privatization of PIA when the issue is taken up in parliament.

He said that his party had inked an agreement with the PML-N in return for its support in the government formation and that some of the points of the agreement had been implemented.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2024