LAHORE, May 1: The Gilani administration is indecisive whether to appoint one person with the dual charge of managing director and chairman of the national flag carrier or continue with the policy of having a ‘professional’ person as managing director and a ‘political’ personality as chairman.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani about two months ago had announced that a new chairman of PIA was being appointed as part of its revamp plan. Air Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman (retired) was appointed as PIA managing director vice Capt Nadeem Yousufzai a month ago but the slot of the chairman remained with Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar.
Sources informed Dawn on Tuesday that the prime minister wanted to appoint one person as PIA MD and chairman but Mr Mukhtar was not willing to quit the charming position. They said Mr Suleman had been given an understanding before his appointment as PIA MD that he would also get the chairman slot so that one person could be responsible for all the affairs of the airlines and work in an ‘interference-free’ environment.
The sources said there remained a permanent conflict between the MD and the chairman over different issues in running of the airlines operations whenever the two top posts were with different people.
“The managing director faces problems in running the PIA matters because of intervention of the chairman and his cronies. Although the executive authority rests with the MD, he cannot fully exercise it in the presence of the chairman,” a senior PIA official said.
He further commented: “When it comes to a chairman with strong political background, the political interference plays a major role in decision making in PIA affairs. In such a scenario when two persons are holding the MD and chairman posts, no uniform change or reform can be brought about in the airlines because of infighting.”
The PIA officials believe that when there is one person holding the dual charge of the managing director and chairman, he or she is in a position to offset the political pressure.
They say improving and reducing losses of PIA has been a major challenge for the government. There has been a lot of criticism on the PIA but no one comes up with a solution. The story of PIA losses is complex but one aspect to which all agree is that the management has to be independent and free of any government pressures and interference, they suggest.
Former PIA managing director and chairman Ahmed Saeed told Dawn there should be one person for both slots. “Having two bosses of one airline is tantamount to destroying it. Though chairman does not have the executive authority, he may undermine a decision of the managing director as the head of the board of directors,” he said.
Mr Saeed said Gen Musharraf had done a good thing by appointing one person as MD and chairman. “In such a case the MD at least does not have an excuse that he could not deliver because of the chairman or other political intervention,” he said and suggested the government should go ahead with its earlier plan of appointing one person as MD and chairman to revamp the national airlines.
PIA Media Adviser Tahir Khaliq told this reporter that Mr Ahmed Mukhtar would continue as chairman. “There may be a proposal of one person having charge of both MD and chairman but the defence minister will continue as chairman,” he said.