PRESIDENT Gen Pervez Musharraf launched his electoral campaign by holding a news conference and a public meeting in Quetta on Friday last. Knowing the sensitivities of the people of Balochistan, he spoke at length about economic and political issues though correspondents did ask questions about strategic nuclear assets of the country, relations with US, health of the national economy, benefits for joining the international coalition against terror, etc.

The president said his government was working on the issue of provincial autonomy to ensure maximum rights for the federating units, mainly the smaller provinces, in order to address their past grievances. He said the Senate would get more powers to discuss the finance bill and other issues.

Responding to a question that in the broader sense of democracy Balochistan would have negligible representation in the future parliament, he said he had attended six or seven presentations by the National Reconstruction Bureau on the question of provincial autonomy, and added that the Constitution would be amended accordingly to grant greater autonomy to the provinces before the general election in October.

Since he received a big response during his present campaign, he announced a package for development of Balochistan. The most prestigious point was the construction of Kachhi Canal. The federal government approved the idea of building a barrage on the Indus, which will be under control of the Balochistan government, though it will be administratively within the territories of Punjab.

The proposed barrage will be built at Mithan Kot in southern Punjab. The Punjab government has objected to it, claiming that the barrage would flood over half a million acres of cultivated land if the reservoir is built. The government of Balochistan has adopted a different stand. The dispute has delayed the approval of Kachhi Canal Project which will irrigate over 0.6 million acres in Sibi-Kachhi plains.

The president himself intervened in the controversy between