04 March 2005	Friday	22 Muharram 1426

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ISLAMABAD, March 3: Opposition parties walked out of the National Assembly on Thursday to protest against President Musharraf's stand in favour of building the Kalabagh dam, with one party threatening to seek his impeachment by parliament.

The protest was provoked by General Musharraf's speech of Wednesday at a public rally in Nowshera, NWFP. The president strongly advocated the construction of the massive multi-purpose dam at Kalabagh in Punjab, saying that it was essential to meet the country's future needs of irrigation water and electricity.

However, the critics of the project say it would submerge or otherwise harm agricultural land and deprive Sindh of some of its share of Indus water. Two senior members of the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) from Sindh accused the president of inviting a possible civil war and acting in violation of the constitution by pressing for the construction of the dam. They called for building the alternative and comparatively smaller Bhasha dam, also over the Indus, near Skardu in the Northern Area.

The token walkout by members of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) at the start of the question hour came after speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain refused to allow a discussion on the president's speech.

MIKES SWITCHED OFF: ARD members were the first to walk out when the speaker prevented PPP member Mujeeb Pirzada from speaking by switching off his mike after the member accused the president of making a 'misleading statement' in Nowshera.

MMA members remained seated for a while to let an alliance colleague ask the first question on the agenda, but later marched out of the house after the speaker switched off the mikes of Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Hafiz Hussain Ahmed's desks. They had asked the chair to let the ARD members speak on the issue.

The move seemed aimed at repairing, to some extent, fissures in opposition ranks seen during the previous two days when the MMA alliance joined hands with the government in rejecting a ruling party member's private bill seeking to strengthen the present law against honour-killings. The PPP had supported the bill.

Law and Justice Minister Mohammad Wasi Zafar persuaded the opposition to end their walkout. PPP's Mujeeb Pirzada, who was allowed to speak on the Kalabagh issue when the house reassembled after a Maghreb prayer break, said building the Kalabagh dam without the consent of Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan could endanger the federation and spark a civil war in the country.

He questioned the president's reported estimate of the storage capacity of Kalabagh and Bhasha dams put at 90 million acre feet (MAF) and 50 million MAF, respectively. The figures were wrong and grossly exaggerated, he said.

Mr Pirzada said the proposed dam would submerge about 300,000 acres of precious agricultural land in the NWFP, particularly in Nowshera district, and damage large tracts downstream with salinity.

PPP member Qurban Ali Shah, who threatened the impeachment move, said the matter should have gone to the constitutionally provided Council of Common Interests (CCI). It has not been formed for several years, after the provincial assemblies of the NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan passed resolutions against the project.

"What right the president has to decide where a dam should be built?" he asked as he accused him of violating the constitution's articles 153, 154 and 155 relating to the appointment of the CCI by him, its functions and resolution of water disputes.

"The president should protect the constitution, but he is violating the constitution daily," the member said angrily. He said it was the right of parliament to decide on such controversial issues and added: "We will never give up this right."

"We will move for the impeachment of the president (if he goes ahead with his plans)," he said. Defence of the project by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi during an interruption of Mr Shah's speech provoked more protest from PPP members. They stood up in shouted at their one-time party colleague.

The minister said the Kalabagh dam was in conformity with the 1991 water accord among provinces, had been approved by world-renowned hydrologists and its non-implementation would mean leaving large areas of land barren.

He said the dam would submerge more land and dislocate more people in Punjab than in any other province and added: "The president should make an announcement about its construction immediately."

TWO BILLS PASSED: Before resuming the third day's debate on the prevailing unrest in Balochistan, the house passed two government bills seeking to amend the Corporate and Industrial Restructuring Corporation Ordinance of 2000, and to provide for the elimination of revenue deficit and reduction of public debt to a prudent level by effective debt management.

The Corporate and Industrial Restructuring Corporation (Amendment) Bill, already passed by the Senate, was adopted without any debate. However, some opposition members voiced reservations about the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Bill, which was passed after the government rejected their proposed amendments.

After ruling PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain spoke about the work of two sub-committees of a parliamentary committee on Balochistan headed by him (reported separately), several opposition members criticised government policies in the troubled province before the house was adjourned until 10am on Friday.