March 05, 2007	Monday	Safar 15, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, March 4: Representatives of major political parties and the civil society here on Sunday called for applying all peaceful means to resolve the conflict in Balochistan and address the concerns of the smaller provinces. They also demanded ownership rights to the people of Balochistan over their natural resources.

Speaking at a roundtable dialogue, they also .

The dialogue was the third and last of a series on “Federalism in Pakistan and the conflict in Balochistan” arranged by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) in collaboration with Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO). The dialogues were supported through a grant from the department of foreign affairs and international trade, government of Canada.

Former Canadian deputy prime minister and minister for natural resources Anne McLellan said Canada’s economy was based on natural resources and the country was following the principle of equal and fair distribution of the benefits of these resources to all its citizens.

“All the problems related to control and distribution of natural resources are negotiated between provinces and the federal government through agreements and treaties.” She said Pakistani stakeholders might consider the possibilities of joint control of natural resources by federal and provincial governments which can be achieved through political and constitutional arrangements for resolving disputes.

Jamhoori Watan Party leader Amanullah Kanrani said constitutional arrangements should be made to ensure a bigger share for the provinces in the National Finance Commission (NFC) award and more control over natural resources. He emphasised the need to activate the Council of Common Interests to resolve disputes.

Senator Rukhsana Zuberi of PPP said constitutional options were available to resolve the problem but the political will was required to use these constitutional options.

Balochistan minister for population welfare Nasreen Khetran said the government was trying to address the grievances of the province and the pace of development had been speeded up.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of the JUI-F said constitutional options were still available but an atmosphere was needed where all stakeholders come together to work out solutions to the problems within the constitutional framework.

Barrister Zafarullah Khan of PML-N said constitutional options were not applied properly to settle the disputes. He said the Council of Common Interests was a useful forum to resolve the problems but it had met only a few times since its creation.

Haji Adeel of Awami National Party recommended the establishment of a federal constitutional court equally represented by all provinces as well as more powers for the Senate.

Senator Shahid Bugti, Senator Abdul Raheem Mandokhel, Mir Hasil Bizanjo, Jahangir Badr and Naila Qadri also spoke.