Sherry questions the absence of provincial representation in CPEC authority
Islamabad: Parliamentary Leader of the PPP in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman said in the Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development that she fails to understand why the government does not want an institutionalised representation of the provinces on the CPEC Authority.
“If the government rejects a private members bill, it must do so after providing substantial evidence as to why that bill does not have its support. When the CPEC bill was being passed we were told that all our amendments to include the voices of the provinces would be welcomed, but now in the Committee it seems the bill has not even been read properly after lying with the department for eight months,” she said.
It is quite shocking that eight months after the amendments have been proposed spurious arguments are being made by the government representatives on the committee.”
She continued, “Instead of giving any substantial answers or objections regarding the bill and building a path to include provincial representation, it is being blocked in order to keep our key stakeholders in CPEC, which clearly needs better coordination between provinces who all have a substantial and legitimate interest in how projects are identified, which are fast tracked and which just quietly get detailed from the dashboard . This is a serious issue based on leveraging the CPEC opportunity for investment, growth, development and employment in the country. the Special Assistant to the PM on CPEC had asked a young research assistant from the private sector to present their findings. Instead of giving legislation that seeks to create consensus on CPEC projects we are disappointed to see a non-serious review of legislation that impacts landmark platforms like this .The arguments that were presented in the committee were completely unfounded, misleading and failed to generate useful dialogue to move these amendments forward, nor did they support any of their groundless objections.”
The Senator said, “It is extremely important for the provinces to be represented in CPEC. The smaller provinces including Sindh, Balochistan have been raising their voices on generating investments where they see either opportunity or fragility but despite identifying their needs they have not been formally or institutionally represented in CPEC appropriately. Inclusivity in CPEC is of the utmost importance as it all political parties and provinces have tried very hard not to push this huge opportunity to the margins of the planning process but it seems there is either no interest in building stakeholder buy-in, let alone resuming any serious momentum. After the passing of the 18th Amendment, both parliamentary and provincial oversight are required. When the bill was originally passed, we were given assurances that amendments would ensure that provincial oversight would be integrated into the framework of the bill, by passing future amendments. But now we are seeing a complete lack of cooperation from the authority. It is shocking that the authority even failed to read the bill before today’s committee hearing.”
Once again, three bills related to improving the CPEC Authority’s transparency and inclusivity have been kicked down the road for later consideration when the government will complete its homework. “Unfortunately, such shortsightedness will cost the country and its inflation-hit population a great deal in the shape of missed opportunities. If this is the way the Authority will malfunction, then questions will be raised about either a lack of commitment to the entire platform or a crippling incapacity to connect the dots needed to enable inclusive governance of CPEC projects” she said. “Either way, it’s sending the wrong signal, which is a great pity, because Pakistan is in no position to afford a government without the convening or governance power such complex investment platforms need. The most fundamental thing it needs other than security and a stable contractual environment, due diligence, and financial close of projects is federal mapping of representation, but looks like the government is both unable and unwilling to do any of the above.”
