Describing the formation of a cabinet committee on privatisation of Roosevelt Hotel as unconstitutional, the PML-N on Saturday called for the revocation of its notification and halting the process immediately, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

In a letter signed by six party members, which is addressed to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, they said the privatisation/leasing out the PIA-owned hotel in New York was against the Constitution, inappropriate according to protecting business interests and wastage of public money.

The National Assembly standing committee has clearly raised a question why the Roosevelt Hotel is being sold when it is not a financial burden or useless, reads the letter signed by Khawaja Asif, Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, Rana Iradat Sharif, Ahmed Raza Maneka, Rasheed Ahmed Khan and Shehnaz Salim Malik.

The standing committee has questioned what is the compulsion forcing to sell this hotel at a time when the tourism and hoteling industry are destroyed by the coronavirus pandemic, it added.

According to the letter, the standing committee has also asked whether the government followed the Privatisation Ordinance 2000 and the relevant law in connection with the Roosevelt Hotel.

The PML-N lawmakers said the elected members had taken the oath to defend, protect and keep the Constitution functional. Giving executive powers to the advisers on institutional reforms and trade and investment was unconstitutional, the letter pointed it out.

According to the Constitution, any such measure is unconstitutional and unlawful from the very beginning, it added.

The letter also mentions that the preamble, Objectives Resolution and Article 2-A clearly stipulate that the powers would be used only through the elected people. That’s why oath is not taken from the unelected persons because they are not answerable to elected House, constituency and the authorised public forums.

The Roosevelt Hotel, says the letter, is located in New York which has been badly affected due to the pandemic and the property prices are currently very low there. At the same time, the travelling industry just like tourism and hoteling is badly affected.