Assembly diary: Can K-P government actually stop drones, NATO supplies?

Despite unanimous resolution, many ambiguities remain as to what may happen after Nov 20.

PESHAWAR: The provincial government managed to pass a much-hyped resolution against drone strikes and Nato supplies earlier this week. However, what this resolution is going to achieve is still unclear.

After long deliberations with opposition lawmakers on Monday, the assembly unanimously passed the resolution, which seemed softer in what it asserted as compared to what Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan had claimed after the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone strike last Friday.

The resolution brought nothing to the issue that had not already been discussed. It asked the federal government to take practical steps to stop drone attacks and to stop Nato supplies by November 20; otherwise, the province will pursue its own course of action. However, the resolution stopped short of elucidating what that course of action might be.

Constitutional expert Advocate Qazi Anwar opines the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government cannot stop Nato supplies through a resolution. “The only way Nato supplies can be stopped is if the people of K-P came out and stopped them. The government does not have the mandate to do so,” he said.

“Who is going to decide the next course of action?” asked Anwar. “Will the provincial assembly convene again after the expiry of the deadline?”

He explained three grounds on which K-P cannot stop Nato supplies. Firstly, he said, the roads used for transporting these facilities fall under the domain of the federal government. Secondly, Nato supplies fall under foreign affairs, which again makes it a federal subject where the provinces have no powers. Lastly, Anwar pointed out these supplies were not only American; rather, there were several other countries with military presence in Afghanistan. “Can we move against all these countries at once?” he questioned.

“If the federal government passes a resolution directly asking the provincial government to do something, it is binding; but not the other way round,” added Anwar, implying the final decision will lie with the centre.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th,2013.