ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan Peoples Party’s in-charge of Labour Bureau, Chau­d­hary Manzoor Ahmed, on Wednesday rejected the ongoing privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), calling the process “unconstitutional and non-transparent”.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Chaudhary Ahmed alleged that the government has violated legal requirements by proceeding with the sale without approval of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) or the parliament.

“The PIA was established under the Acts of 1956, 2016, and 2023. Under the law, neither the CCI nor Parliament was taken into confidence before this privatisation,” he said.

“This makes the entire process of the Pakistan International Airlines privatisation illegal,” he said.

He said while the national flag carrier was valued at Rs135 billion, the government received only Rs10bn from the sale, with Rs6bn separately paid to consultants.

The PPP leader demanded immediate formation of an independent judicial commission to investigate the privatisation of the national flag carrier and to identify those responsible for “selling the national airline for pennies”.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2026