ISLAMABAD: The government suffered a major defeat in the Senate today when the house rejected a bill moved by the government to convert the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Corporation into a public limited company

The PIA Corporation Conversion Bill 2015 was introduced by the Federal Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid.

Deputy Chairman of the Senate Abdul Gafoor Haideri sought verbal consent to take the bill into consideration twice, which was rejected by majority voice both times.

The senate standing committee in its report presented to the house on Tuesday also rejected the bill.

The bill has now been referred to a joint session of the Parliament, which is expected to take place next week. The bill is expected to pass as the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) enjoys a simple majority in a joint session.

On Jan 21, the National Assembly passed the PIAC bill amid protests by the opposition. The bill was then sent to the upper house, which referred it to the standing committee.

A new organisation, Pakistan Airways, was registered as a ‘premium service subsidiary’ of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in late February.

PIA employees in early February went on protest after the government refused to accept a four-point agenda proposed by the Joint Action Committee of PIA employees and put off privatisation.