ISLAMABAD, June 3: President of the National Workers Party (NWP) Abid Hassan Minto warned that the country could witness more financial scams in the near future if the privatisation process was not stopped immediately.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, Mr Minto reiterated the principle stand of his party that sought an end to unbridled privatisation of vital national assets.

He said privatisation of national assets like Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) and Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) at throwaway prices had given rise to financial scams and was tantamount to the Enron issue.

Enron has become a household word synonymous with treachery, deceit and outright theft. Enron Corporation is an energy company based in Houston, Texas. Prior to its bankruptcy in late 2001, Enron employed around 21,000 people with claimed revenues of $101 billion in 2000. Enron became famous at the end of 2001, when it was revealed that it was sustained mostly by institutionalised, systematic and well-planned accounting fraud. Its European operations filed for bankruptcy on November 30, 2001, and it sought Chapter 11 protection in the US two days later, on December 2. At the time, it was the biggest bankruptcy in US history, and it cost 4,000 employees their jobs.

Mr Minto, who is also the convener of Awami Jamhoori Tehreek, said privatisation of PSM and PTCL was part of the structural adjustment programme of International Monitory Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB). The programme only served the interests of international investors and multinational companies and was part of global capitalism that thrived on the poor and downtrodden of the third world.

Details of the PTCL and PSM published in various national dailies and presented before the Supreme Court had revealed that the privatisation process was never transparent and that national assets were sold to favourite parties at throwaway prices.

He said the process was against Article-3 and 2-A of the 1973 Constitution which ensured equal rights to all citizens and pledged their economic and social emancipation.

Mr Minto said privatisation was against the very concept of social welfare and deprived the poor of their jobs and livelihood which enabled few individuals to increase their wealth further.

He said Pakistan Steel Mills was a profitable organisation and the government had no justification to sell it to its favourite parties. “From the beginning we were against the privatisation process and are still sticking to our principle stand,” Mr Minto added.