Khawaja Saad Rafique opposes Aviation Ministry merger
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader and former federal minister Khawaja Saad Rafique has opposed the merger of the Civil Aviation Ministry with the Defense Ministry.
Khawaja Saad Rafique, who never backs off from criticising his own government’s decision, has recently opposed the right-sizing policy of the incumbent government.
In a social media post, Saad Rafique expressed his disappointment over the move, calling it an inappropriate decision that could harm the aviation industry.
Eliminating the Ministry of Aviation and merging it into the Ministry of Defense is an inappropriate decision, sorry!
The move will hurt the aviation industry.
The PML-N’s election manifesto promised to make the Ministry of Transport together with Railways and Aviation.
Railways were to be sizing, EV …– Khawaja Saad Rafique (@khsaad_rafique) February 13, 2025
He pointed out that PML-N’s election manifesto had promised the formation of a Ministry of Transport by merging Railways and Aviation, rather than dissolving the Aviation Ministry altogether.
The former minister further stated that if “right-sizing” was the objective, a more logical approach would have been to merge Railways, Aviation, and Ports & Shipping under a unified Ministry of Transport.
Read more: Aviation Division merged with Defence Ministry
According to Khawaja Saad Rafique, placing the aviation sector under the Ministry of Defence would negatively impact the industry’s growth and efficiency.
The statement of the PML-N stalwart follows after the federal government merged the Ministry of Aviation with the Ministry of Defence, abolishing the status of one more ministry under its rightsizing plan to reduce state expenditures.
The defence ministry has issued a letter regarding the merger to notify the development to all ministries and divisions after completing the implementation of statutory regulatory orders (SROs) given by the Cabinet Division on February 4.
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