TAXILA: Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan hinted at the formation of a forward bloc in the centre and in the other provinces, after Punjab Assembly members within the PML-N met with Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The minister was speaking to the press after inaugurating the re-carpeting of a 5.9 kilometre road connecting Hattar Road to Khanpur Road on Monday. The Rs234.5 million project will be completed in 11 months by the Punjab Highway Department.

Mr Khan said that senators, MNAs and MPAs will announce their forward bloc soon and the opposition’s anti-government movement afterthe All Parties’ Conference (APC) will collapsebefore it takes off.

He said the opposition’s threat of a lockdown is another failed bid to secure an NRO and they would fail to launch such a move due to cracks within the parties.

He claimed that PML-N and PPP parliamentarians are in backdoor consultations with the PTI’s leadership and the country will hear good news in this regard soon.

In response to a question, Mr Khan said the opposition would not risk unseating the Senate chairman for political reasons. He added that agitation of opposition parties has not worked in the past and would not bear fruit in the future.

To another question, the minister said the government does not presently plan to privatise Pakistan International Airlines and an improvement plan is being implemented to bail the PIA out of a financial crunch. He said around 250 employees have been sacked so far for holding fake degrees.

Mr Khan said the PIA has lost Rs416 billion while the previous government left just 33 planes, of which 13 were government property, the rest were leased and four planes were grounded.

To a question he said that the resumption of British Airways flights to Pakistan, Japair, Air France flights and other airlines have given positive indications about resuming their services as well due to the improved security situation.

In response to a question about his political rival, former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the aviation minister said Chaudhry Nisar’s political career has ended and he should not dream of becoming the next chief minister of Punjab and should instead resign from the provincial assembly seat so voters from that constituency are represented in the assembly and their problems can be addressed accordingly.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2019