LAHORE: The incarcerated PTI vice-chairman, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has advised the PPP to either demand a Council of Common Interest (CCI) meeting or quit the ruling coalition in the Centre over its objections to proposed canals to irrigate land in Punjab.
The PPP, which is in alliance with the PML-N in the federal government, has expressed serious reservations over a plan to build new canals on the Indus River for farming in Punjab’s Cholistan region.
The PPP leaders have also raised these concerns in talks with PML-N, saying the project would cut the province’s water share and render its lands “completely barren”.
On Friday, PML-N leader and Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal dismissed PPP’s concerns over the project as “baseless debate”.
Jailed PTI leader says Bilawal’s party should demand CCI meeting; calls party’s differences with PML-N ‘noora kushti’
In a handwritten letter seen by Dawn, Mr Qureshi said the PPP should demand an immediate meeting of the CCI, which has representatives from all four provinces.
The CCI meeting — which should take place every three months as per the Constitution — hasn’t been held for almost a year, Mr Qureshi said, adding that in this scenario, the demand for a meeting would be “fair and within the ambit of the Constitution”.
Water, being a very “sensitive issue,” required consensus amongst the federating units as per the Constitution, Mr Qureshi said.
“Why the PPP is quiet over [this issue] being debated in Sindh,” Mr Qureshi stated.
“People of Sindh want to know the correct position [of PPP]. They are interested in the whole truth,” the PTI leader stated.
Mr Qureshi added that the PPP should quit the coalition if it cannot take a stand on this issue.
He, however, downplayed the difference between PPP and PML-N, calling it “nothing more than a “noora kushti”.
According to Mr Qureshi, the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), a group of political parties from Sindh, was also accusing the PPP of surrendering the province’s water rights.
He said if the proposed canals are built, Balochistan, being a lower riparian province would suffer the most.
The federal government’s approval for six canals over on the River Indus will be detrimental to Sindh’s agriculture and needed to be revisited, the PTI leader warned.
The GDA, as per Mr Qureshi, has claimed the federal government went ahead with the plan after approval from President Asif Zardari.
The jailed PTI leader also commented on PPP’s gripe over not being consulted by the PML-N on major government decisions.
Recently, the PPP took exception to the establishment of the Pakistan Maritime and Seaport Authority (PMSA) by the federal government, calling it a “unilateral” decision.
Mr Qureshi said the PPP criticised the federal government for failing to consult before forming the new body and asserted the federal government’s survival hinges on its support.
The PTI vice-chairman, while citing media reports, stated that the Sindh government deferred plans to allot 14,000 acres of land to an army-backed company for corporate farming.
However, it was also reported that an agreement had been signed by the Sindh government with Green Corporate Initiative (Pvt) Ltd, and the provincial Sindh government had consented to allot 52,000 acres of state land for corporate farming in six districts of Sindh.
Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2025
