Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) central leader Liaqat Baloch and Jamaat-i-Islami Deputy Secretary General Farid Piracha announced that MMA will reverse the privatisation of state-owned entities if it voted to power in the coming general elections.
Addressing a joint news conference at Lahore Press Club on Thursday, they said that privatisation of state-owned entities and, particularly the public utilities, was against the country's interests.
Liaqat Baloch demanded of the government to cancel the privatisation deals of Habib Bank, Pakistan Steel Mills and PTCL in the interest of Pakistan, and hold a national dialogue on the issue. He said the government has fetched Rs 32 billion dollars through sale of national institutions, but it has not paid even a single penny to retire the state debt, which stands at 42 billion dollars. He asked the government to constitute a joint committee of both houses of the parliament to review the whole process of privatisation.
"We on behalf of MMA warn the government that the ongoing process of privatisation is against the national interests, therefore, we will reverse it after coming into power."
He further said that all the local and foreign consortia should keep in mind that on the issue of privatisation the government had no support from the parliament or the people of Pakistan. Liaqat Baloch said that MMA will raise the issue in the National Assembly session starting from Friday.