KARACHI - PIA Senior Staff Association's (PIASSA) oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected office bearers was held on Saturday at Karachi. The trade union activities were suspended with the promulgation of the Chief Executive Order No 6/2001 and all unions, associations ceased to exist. The parliament has recently passed an Ordinance Act II of 2008 whereby the chief executive's order has been repealed and the trade unions, associations, organisations or groups of any type of employees suspended under the aforesaid order; shall be registered afresh in accordance with law. PIA was the first organisation to implement this decision of parliament and the first association to have implemented this process was the PIA Senior Staff Association. Subsequently, their elections were held on October 17, 2008 and on Saturday the elected office bearers of PIASSA took oath which was administered by managing director PIA. While other unions and associations are in the process of getting themselves registered afresh, their elections shall also take place in the shortest possible time. In line with the democratic traditions of this government, the national carrier has always been in the forefront to take such steps to strengthen the democratic process. MD PIA, Captain Mohammad Aijaz Haroon while congratulating the office bearers of PIASSA said that PIA together with the efforts of all employees would soon be once again among the top airlines of the world. He said that officers associations should play a positive role and its activities should be focused for the betterment of the airline and its employees. "The airline's management welcomes all ideas and suggestions aimed at the betterment of the airline," he added. The president-elect of PIASSA assured Haroon of the association's full support for the national carrier. The elected office bearers (PIASSA) who took oath were the President Abid Saleem Khan, Senior Vice President Dr Manzoor Ahmed Abbasi, Vice Presidents Hassan Mehdi & Iqbal Mirza, General Secretary Asad Sadiq, Deputy General Secretary Dr Imran Ahsan, Joint Secretaries AH Rais Baloch, Raees Ashraf, Inayatullah & Syed Imtiaz Shah Gilani. Finance Secretary M Iqbal Awan, Assistant Finance Secretary MH Zardari, Organising Secretary Chaudhry Jawaid Iqbal, Outstation Secretary M Khalid Rathore, Public Relations Secretary Syed Qamar Maqbool Ahmed, Welfare Secretary Sheikh Amjad Riaz and Lady representative Mrs Tasawwur Attique. PIA officers and senior officials attended the ceremony.