KARACHI: Govt in a fix over admissibility issue: Motion on Thal canal
By Our Reporter
KARACHI, Sept 4: The government, which opposed adjournment motions seeking further discussion against the Greater Thal Canal project, was apparently put in a tight corner by the opposition on the question of admissibility in the Sindh Assembly on Thursday.
The ongoing session has been requisitioned by the opposition to discuss the government’s alleged failure in pleading Sindh’s case and in getting the construction of Greater Thal Canal stopped.
Picking up the thread from yesterday, Syed Qaim Ali Shah of the PPP Parliamentarians dilated on various rules and constitutional provisions to convince the House on admissibility of his adjournment motion.
Referring to the statement made by Senior Minister Syed Sardar Ahmad, in which he had spoken about the proposed formation of a technical committee to go into the whole water issue, Mr Shah insisted that the government had violated article 155(4) of the Constitution which dealt with complaints to be handled by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) with regard to water issue.
He was of the view that the government was bound to file a complaint with the CCI and it was for that constitutional body to form a committee, if it deemed it necessary.
He insisted that after considering the report and a supplementary report, if any, of the commission, the CCI shall record its decision on all matters referred to the commission.
In support of his argument Mr Shah also referred to the sub-clause two of the same article and emphasized that on receiving such complaint the council shall, after having considered the matter, either give its decision or request to the President to appoint a commission consisting such persons having special knowledge and experience in irrigation, engineering, administration, finance or law, as he may think fit.
He said the provincial government had failed to lodge complaint under article 155(4) and had only said that a summary had been sent and the matter would be on the agenda of the CCI as and when it was constituted.
Claiming that the government has only stated that it has approached the federal government, Mr Shah said: “We will be satisfied if the minister said here that he has filed a complaint against the construction of the GTC.”
According to the joint resolution adopted by the Sindh Assembly on Feb 28, the Sindh government was asked to make a complaint to the CCI under article 155 of the Constitution against the construction of the Greater Thal Canal project and to request to the federal government to stop the construction as the province has legitimate grievance which needs to be addressed, he said.
He was of the view that the government was obliged to get the construction of GTC stopped but the senior minister said nothing against the construction. He claimed that Article 155(4) had been violated.
He insisted that the matter required discussion in the House for convincing the government to file a complaint. He claimed that treasury benches had not contested his contention on legal grounds.
Syed Qaim Ali Shah also referred to Rule 75(a) of the Rules of Procedure of the Sindh Assembly which read: “The Speaker shall have to disallow in his chamber any adjournment motion if he is of the opinion that it is in contravention of any of the clauses of Rule 73.” No restrictions mentioned in this rule is applicable to his case, he said.
Welcoming that the Speaker had not exercised powers under this rule and insisted that provisions of Rule 76 should be followed.
According to this rule, if the Speaker is of the opinion that adjournment motion is in order, he shall read the contents of the motion to the Assembly and ask whether the member has the permission of the House. In case of objections, he will again call the members in favour of the leave being granted to rise in their seat.
Mr Shah’s emphasis was on the sub-clause two of this rule according to which if less than one-fifth of the total membership of the assembly rose in their seats, then the motion cannot be admitted.
Prayer break came as a big relief for the government members who had sensed that they were in the dock. They have been using evasive and time-wasting tactics ever since the session began to save themselves from the embarrassment of either outright rejection of the adjournment motion or allowing a debate on the issue once again which may not be liked by the top echelon of the stakeholders.
After prayer break, when proceedings resumed briefly, Senior Minister Syed Sardar Ahmad again opposed the adjournment motions and said there was no justification for that as the provincial government had done its best.
Appending to his Wednesday statement on the floor of the House, Mr Ahmad said that the joint resolution was initiated by the treasury benches which indicated their seriousness. He claimed that the provincial government had not faltered and said that provincial government had written a letter to the prime minister for constituting the CCI.
While the matter pertaining to adjournment motions was closed for the day, Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah asked members to decide among themselves as to when a debate on law and order and rain-affected people would take place.
The House was willing to take up the law and order issue on Monday next after adjournment motions, but the members were not clear whether or not the issue of rain-affected people should be taken up on coming Wednesday.
