Centre’s shadow
THE KP Assembly remains deeply divided over proposed contentious mining legislation. Even many of the ruling PTI legislators have opposed the draft bill approved by the provincial cabinet some weeks ago.
In Balochistan, a more controversial version of the law was passed by the province’s legislature during a brief Ramazan session. In spite of the initial political ‘consensus’, the new law is now being opposed by the parties which had previously lent their support to the provincial government for its smooth passage. At the heart of the opposition are several valid concerns regarding the potential political, social and environmental fallout of the legislation.
But the main worry centres on the concealed attempts to clip the province’s control of its mineral resources by giving an ‘advisory’ and ‘non-binding’ role to the centre, or through invoking ‘national interest’. The legislation carries the unmistakable imprint of the civil-military SIFC, which is actively marketing Pakistan’s mineral potential to foreign investors.
While those opposed to the bill in KP have successfully blocked its enactment, the opposition in Balochistan woke up too late to the fact that the bill they had helped pass, without properly reading it, would deprive the province of significant decision-making powers, transferring these to the centre. Little wonder that criticism of the efforts to curtail provincial autonomy has again been sparked; ironically, both the PML-N and PPP, which had jointly led the passage of the landmark 18th Amendment 15 years ago, seem to have forgotten their commitment to devolution in this case.
The push for the new provincial mining legislation comes from the conviction that the country’s hitherto unexplored mineral wealth, estimated by the government to be worth $6tr, could help fix the national economy, freeing it from its perpetual dependency on IMF bailouts. It is not unusual for our leadership to clutch at straws whenever they find themselves in a bind and unable to reform the failing economy.
Observers point out that with certain quarters virtually calling the shots in the economic sphere, since the formation of the SIFC, the shift in approach has become starker. Initially, the people were promised billions of dollars in investment from the Gulf countries. Later, the focus shifted to corporate farming as a panacea for our economic woes.
More recent is the talk of buried gold in our treasure island, which is being touted as a cure for the ailing economy. No doubt this hidden wealth will go a long way in bringing prosperity, but it will not be available to us for a long time.
With the federation already under strain thanks to controversial federal policies and projects, the centre should stop encroaching on provincial jurisdictions in its misplaced eagerness to control minerals.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2025