First privatization minister in present PPP government had to be replaced after his failure to sell a single unit. Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan assumed the portfolio on December 16, 2009. He is one of the richest ministers of the PPP government. Nearly a year gone, Waqar Ahmad Kan is as ‘successful’ as his predecessor Naveed Qamar

Privatization under Zardari government is in doldrums. He has not been able to privatize any institution during two-and-half years of power. The disastrous outcome of the major privatized institutions under General Musharaf has put a lot of pressure to go in this direction. After the residence of the former Privatization Minister Naveed Qamar was attacked by an angry Sindhi mob of workers in November 2008, the government had to put off privatization of the Qadirpur gas fields. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani informed the Senate on 13^th November 2008 that the gas fields would not be sold for the time being.

On August 26, 2008, the board of Privatization Commission accorded its formal approval to privatize Oil Gas Development Corporation Limited (OGDC) on a fast-track basis through sale of its shares and strategic assets with management control, including Qadirpur gas fields.

With the federal government refusing to budge an inch from the decision of privatizing Qadirpur gas fields, the workers union began to agitate. This field was inaugurated by Benazir Bhutto in 1995. Within two months, the present PPP government had to abandon the scheme under the pressure of Sindhi masses.

“This time being” of prime minister Gilani is still on. The PPP government wanted to sell 37 per cent shares of the gas fields with transfer of operational control. One of the models employed in the privatization of large state-owned enterprises was the divestment of a minority strategic stake along with transfer of management control. For example, sale of 26% shares with management control was used in the privatization of Kot Addu Power Company, Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL), Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) and Allied Bank. According to the Privatization Commission, “this strategy is based on the rationale that given the large size, a single offer for total divestment for some transactions would limit the interest of potential investors and consequently affect the level of competition”.

The results were just the opposite. The owner of MCB, Mian Mansha, has become the richest man of Pakistan after he got hold of MCB in 1991 through buying some shares with management control.

This mode of selling the state owned enterprises was a successful tool of the Mushraf dictatorship and former Nawaz Sharif government to hand over larger public sector enterprises to their favorites on throw-away prices. The PPP government is continuing the same policy.

The first privatization minister in present PPP government had to be replaced after his failure to sell a single unit. Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan assumed the portfolio of Federal Minister for Privatization on December 16, 2009. He is one of the richest ministers of the PPP government. His father Gulzar Ahmad Khan was a close associate of Benazir Bhutto and he used his massive wealth to make it to the top. Nearly a year gone, Waqar Ahmad Kan is as successful as his predecessor Naveed Qamar who was also a former chairman of privatization Commission of Pakistan in the nineties.

In a fresh effort to restart the privatization process, President Zardari advised the government on 22^nd November 2010, that while adopting a public-private partnership (PPP) model for the privatization of state-owned enterprises, efforts should be made to raise bulk of the equity through stock exchanges to create wealth for the masses and small investors. The top-level meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Privatization Waqar Ahmed Khan, Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Secretary General to the President Salman Faruqui, State Bank of Pakistan Governor Shahid Hafeez Kardar, secretaries of the finance and privatization ministries and the spokesperson for the president amongst other officials.

This time the target is what is commonly known as eight chronically loss-making enterprises. The government claims that these institutions are draining Rs 220 billion a year. They include major institutions like the PIA, Railways, Pakistan Steel Mills and WAPDA. The PPP government will not fare any better in this fresh effort either.

From 1991 to June 2010, in nearly twenty years of privatization process in Pakistan, 167 industrial, financials and other state owned enterprises were sold for 476,421,2 million Rupees. These institutions include 7 Banks, 21 Capital Market Transactions, 13 Energy sector and 4 Telecommunication sector sales. Among the industrial units transactions, 7 automobile units, 17 cement, 15 chemical, 7 engineering, 7 fertilizer, 23 ghee, 8 rice, 14 Roti plants, 4 textile factories, five newspapers, 4 tourism hotels and 6 others units were sold.

The present PPP government has not taken any notice of the massive corruption that took place under Mushraf’s eight-year privatization.

According to conservative estimate of Anti Privatization Alliance Pakistan, a massive 1550 Billion Rupees ($23.84 billion) corruption has taken place during Mushraf-Shoukat Aziz privatization push. The former government proudly declared that three main pillars of the Pakistan so called economic growth rest on liberalization, deregulation and privatization. The PPP government has no different options than these three.

The direct negative impact of privatization has been seen on working class. Over 600,000 workers have lost their jobs during the 20 years of privatization from the institutions that have been privatized. Most of privatized factories work on contract system. There are no permanent jobs in these factories. Labor pattern has been changed and the privatization has pushed the flood of informal sector. A severe exploitation of workers - particularly women workers - is taking place in informal sector. No labor law has been imposed in informal sector.

The privatization process in Pakistan has weakened the trade union movement as well. The membership is on ever decline. The membership of the registered trade unions was 870000 in the early eighties and in 2007, it has declined to 296250.
Privatization is a political weapon in the hands of the capitalists. It is not just an economic attack but a political attack as well. It stops the growth of social, political and class-based consciousness. It reduces the social capital and increase the private capital. Instead of social need, it creates and increases the private greed.

The World Bank, Transparency International and other international institution talks of state corruption but never speak about the corruption involved in privatization process. The stories of corruption during the privatization process are in abundance in every country, but are ignored for political reasons.

Farooq Tariq