Pakistan

Up in arms: Parties demand equal representation in CPEC

PUT chief said the federal government is marginalising smaller provinces by undermining the western route of CPEC

Our Correspondent May 19, 2016

PESHAWAR: Members of Pakhtunkhwa Ulasi Tehreek (PUT) and Pakhtuns Rights Movement have demanded equal representation of their region for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

Speaking at a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, the members said all units of the federal government should be incorporated in the joint coordination committee of the project.

PUT chief said the federal government is marginalising smaller provinces by undermining the western route of CPEC.

“The decision to change the route was unjust to the people of smaller provinces,” he said. “Moreover, the decisions of the all-parties conference (APC) held in January were never implemented.”

The speakers firmly rejected the plan of western route approved by ECNEC during its last meeting, saying the tribal belt has been completely ignored.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2016.