China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: K-P digs deeper to alter course of outcome

Section 4 of Land Acquisition Act on the cards; consensus-building convention on Dec 26

PESHAWAR:

After months of political wrangling with the federal government over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s intended route, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa now plans to pursue a more aggressive stance. And realising this could well be an exercise in futility if attempted alone, the party is mustering support to develop a consensus with other political forces in the province.

A convention will be held in the city on December 26 to develop a consensus on CPEC. Insiders told The Express Tribune on Wednesday, the meeting will be attended by all parliamentary leaders.



Dr Said Alam Mehsud, who heads the Pakhtunkhwa Ulasi Tehreek (PUT) and is also the K-P government’s technical expert on the CPEC. told The Express Tribune a committee of three members will be constituted to look into fund allocations for the Public Sector Development Plan (PSDP), inauguration of projects on the Western route of the CPEC, and whether the federal government will fulfil its promises agreed upon at the all-parties conference (APC) on May 28 this year. The committee is tasked with forging a consensus among political parties in K-P to exert pressure on the federal government.

There are some common concerns which are slated to bring the parties in K-P together. Mehsud explained that the working group proposed in the APC to address the grievances of other provinces has still not been constituted, despite a lapse of seven months. He added even minutes of that particular meeting have not been released.

The Awami National Party and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl were the two main political forces that had initially opposed the Planning Commission’s decision to construct the eastern alignment of the corridor before the western one. However, leaders of both parties were pacified following a meeting with the prime minister during which they were assured of their grievances being addressed.



Most recently, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali, whose party has vociferously opposed the change in the corridor’s route, met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and was assured of a six-lane motorway extending from DI Khan. “We believe the premier will fulfil his promise,” said ANP General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain. “They’ve realized it a little late. Govts get informed much sooner than
political parties”.



For now, the K-P government has decided to contact the National Highway Authority (NHA) chairman and the Chinese ambassador for clarifications. On the legislative front, the provincial government has passed another resolution in the K-P Assembly against the route change. Officials privy to the matter say another more extreme move is also on the cards: to impose Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1984.

The K-P government’s stance is based on arguments presented by the PUT. Briefing parliamentarians in K-P, Dr Mehsud deliberated over the components that make the economic corridor package.

The expert claims that besides a shift in the CPEC route from the Western to the Eastern route, other components, too, have been shifted to the eastern alignment that runs through Punjab. “Initially, there was the [slogan of] ‘one belt, one road’, which focused on the Western route,” argued Mehsud.



It is only when the corridor’s route shifted to Punjab that terms such as ‘missing links’ and ‘multiple alignments’ were introduced,” he added.

Mehsud’s arguments are not isolated statements. They are supported by documents from the Planning Commission, stressed the expert. In its monographic study of the transport sector, the federal government documents the “new” plan of the eastern route as supported by subsequent fund allocations for PSDPs.

“We do not have a tunnel vision. The economic corridor can only be a game changer if its benefits go to the more underprivileged Baloch, Pashtuns and the people of Gilgit-Baltistan who have been largely ignored in development for the past 68 years,” maintained Dr Mehsud.

Officials say the K-P government has also started drafting a letter to the Centre.

A government official said the letter questions the role of the planning commission.

“The planning commission is the main authority after the 18th Constitutional Amendment,” he said. “However, it is yet to be signed by the chief minister.”

Insiders claim the provincial government intends to question the status of the Planning Commission if it fails to provide answers.

“There is no doubt that we will go to court against the commission,” said an insider.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th,  2015.