The Froebel’s Model United Nations ‘10

Pakistan National Assembly

 Table of Contents

From The Committee Directors’ Desk ....................................................................................... 3

Topic A: The Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act 2010: A Reprisal ............................... 4

Statement of the Problem ..................................................................................................... 4

Discussion of the Problem ..................................................................................................... 4

Questions A Resolution Must Answer ................................................................................. 14

Topic B: The Kalabagh Dam & 2010 Floods ............................................................................. 15

Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................... 15

Discussion of the Problem ................................................................................................... 15

Links for Further Research ....................................................................................................... 19

Topic A.................................................................................................................................. 19

Topic B.................................................................................................................................. 19
 From The Committee Directors’ Desk

Hello! My name is My name is Usman

Fatima Salim Khawaja Ghani and I will be your
and I will co-chairing the Co-Committee Director.
Pakistan National
I am currently a student
Assembly at FROMUN
at The Institute of Legal
’10 along with Mr.
Studies in Lahore and
Muhammad Usman Ghani. I have recently
will, hopefully, be done with my L.L.B.
completed my Undergraduate degree and
(Hons) degree next year. My involvement
am looking to pursue a degree in
with MUNs began in 2007, as a delegate
Economics in the near future.
at the LUMUN 2007 conference. Since
Throughout my college life I have been an then, I have attended LUMUN twice, in
active participant in extra-curricular 2008 and 2009, winning Outstanding
activities; from quizzes and talent shows Diplomacy Awards at every occasion. I
to dramatics and debates. I have attended have also participated in several other
various personal development MUNs hosted by The Rotaract Club,
conferences over the years such as the Karachi and The Lahore Grammar School
Young Leaders’ Conference. I was also a Defence Lahore, again winning an
part of the latest session of the Youth Outstanding Diplomacy Awards at both.
Parliament of Pakistan Initiative. My My interaction with the Islamabad circuit,
previous Model United Nations however, began quite recently, with
experience includes participation and directing a Committee at SMAMUN ’10
adjudication at BMUN ‘09, SMAMUN ‘09, and participating as a delegate in one at
LUMUN ’09, and CSMUN ‘10. BMUN ’10. My interest in debates is not
limited to MUNs only, having also
I am looking forward to chairing the
participated in several inter-school
Pakistan National Assembly, and I hope
debates competitions and at the
that you will all come well-prepared and
Nationals. Apart from that I am also an
provide for an interesting as well as
avid ‘Mooter’, winning several awards at
fruitful debate. Best of luck!
National Level Law Moot Competitions .

Fatima Salim Khawaja Muhammad Usman Ghani

Committee Director PNA Committee Director PNA
 Topic A: The Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act 2010: A Reprisal

Statement of the Problem Thirteenth Amendment. It was finally

restored during the Presidency of Gen.
The Eighteenth Amendment of the
Pervez Musharraf by the Seventeenth
Constitution of Pakistan, was passed by
Amendment. No elected government in
the National Assembly of Pakistan on April
Pakistan has ever completed its full term.
8, 2010, removing the power of the
This is the first legislation since 1973 to
President of Pakistan to dissolve the
decrease the powers of the President.
Parliament unilaterally and thus turning
Pakistan from a semi-presidential to a The Amendment Bill was passed by the
parliamentary republic, and renaming Senate of Pakistan on April 15, 2010 and
North-West Frontier Province to Khyber became an Act of Parliament when
Pakhtunkhwa. The amendment is President Asif Ali Zardari signed the bill on
expected to counter the sweeping powers April 19, 2010. It was the first time in the
amassed by the Presidency under former history of Pakistan that a President
Presidents General Pervez Musharraf and relinquished a significant part of his
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and to powers willingly and transferred them to
ease political instability in Pakistan. parliament and the Office of the Prime
Minister.
This 'historic amendment’, as it has been
billed, reverses many infringements on Discussion of the Problem
the Constitution of Pakistan over several
The Constitution (Eighth Amendment) Act,
decades by its military rulers. The power
1985 was an amendment to the
of the President to dissolve the
Constitution of Pakistan passed in 1985 by
Parliament was enacted by the Eighth
the then President Genral Zia-ul-Haq. It
Amendment to the Constitution of
changed Pakistan's government from a
Pakistan during the Presidency of Gen.
Parliamentary system to a Semi-
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, before it was
presidential system by giving the
removed by then-Prime minister Nawaz
President a number of additional powers.
Sharif during his second term by the
These powers included the right,
expressed in sub-section 2(b) inserted into was supported by both the government
Article 58, to dissolve the National and the opposition, and was thus passed
Assembly (but not the Senate) if, in his or unanimously.
her opinion, "a situation has arisen in
A few months later, the Fourteenth
which the Government of the Federation
Amendment was passed, which subjected
cannot be carried on in accordance with
Members of Parliament to very strict
the provisions of the Constitution and an
party discipline by giving party leaders
appeal to the electorate is necessary."
unlimited power to dismiss legislators
(Constitution of Pakistan, Article 58) with
who failed to vote as directed. This
the consequence of dismissing the Prime
virtually eliminated any chance of a Prime
Minister and his or her Cabinet. The use of
Minister of being thrown out of office by a
Article 58 2(b) was almost exclusively
motion of no confidence. The
justified by the President as necessary, for
amendments removed nearly all
the removal of corrupt governments that,
institutional checks and balances on the
it was asserted, had lost the confidence of
Prime Minister's power, by effectively
the people. Elections were held each time
removing the legal remedies by which he
that caused the ruling party to lose its
could be dismissed.
majority or plurality in the National
Assembly. Nawaz Sharif's government became
increasingly unpopular after the passage
The Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment)
of this amendment coupled with the
Act, 1997 was an amendment to the
Fourteenth Amendment, even though it
Constitution of Pakistan passed in 1997 by
was the election of his Pakistan Muslim
the government of Prime Minister Nawaz
League by a heavy majority that enabled
Sharif. It stripped the President of
him to alter the Constitution in the first
Pakistan of his reserve power to dissolve
place. The Fourteenth Amendment
the National Assembly as per the Eighth
subjected Members of Parliament to very
Amendment, and thereby triggering new
strict party discipline by giving party
elections and dismissing the Prime
leaders unlimited power to dismiss
Minister. The Constitutional Amendment
legislators who failed to vote as directed A
few months later, Nawaz Sharif's partisan office, but made it subject to Supreme
stormed the Supreme Court of Pakistan Court approval.
and forced the resignation of the Chief
The Constitution (Seventeenth
Justice. This strengthened the perception
Amendment) Act, 2003 was an
that the country was becoming a civilian
amendment to the Constitution of
dictatorship.
Pakistan passed in December 2003, after
In 1999, the Pakistan Army General Pervez over a year of political wrangling between
Musharraf assumed power in a military- supporters and opponents of Pakistani
lead bloodless coup. Among the reasons President Pervez Musharraf.
he gave for doing so were the destruction
This amendment made many changes to
of institutional checks and balances, and
Pakistan's constitution. Many of these
the prevailing corruption in the political
changes dealt with the office of the
leadership. The coup was widely
President and the reversal of the effects
welcomed in Pakistan. Amongst the
of the Thirteenth Amendment.
Opposition, ex-Prime Minister Benazir
Bhutto was one of the first leaders to Key Issues

congratulate General Pervez Musharraf

The amendment limits presidential
for removing Nawaz Sharif. The Supreme
powers following years of a strengthened
Court later validated the removal on the
presidency under President Musharraf’s
grounds that the Thirteenth and
military regime in a number of different
Fourteenth Amendments resulted in a
ways. These include:
situation for which there was no
constitutional remedy.  Removing presidential powers to
circumvent the normal legislative
In October 2002, elections were held in
process and limiting the amount of
Pakistan. In December 2003, Parliament
time the president may consider bills
passed the Seventeenth Amendment,
passed by parliament before
which partially restored the President's
approving them (Article 75)
reserve power to dissolve Parliament and
thus remove the Prime Minister from
 Transferring the power to submit
matters directly to parliament for a
yes or no vote to the prime minister
(Article 48)
 Removing the infamous Article 58-2(b)
instituted by President Musharraf,
which granted the power
unilaterally dismiss parliament under
vague emergency provisions
 Consulting with the outgoing prime
minister and opposition leader on
presidential appointments
caretaker governments to manage the
transition to a new government when
parliament is dismissed (Article 224)
The amendment transfers greater
authority to the parliament and prime
minister through the following changes:
 Establishes the prime minister and his
ministers as the federal government
and transfers the position of chief
executive of the nation from the
president to the prime minister
(Articles 90 and 99).
 Reduces the requirement for the
prime minister to consult with the
president to a duty to keep him
“informed” of policy matters (Article
46).
 Requires that the president consult
with the prime minister—whose
recommendations are binding—on all
choices for provincial governors
to (Article 101) and military service chiefs
(Articles 243 and 260), though the
president remains the office charged
with their appointments. President
Zardari will likely retain influence over
these appointments as party head of
of
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s
PPP, but Gilani may attempt to assert
greater control over the party through
this power.
 Removes limits on prime ministers
serving more than two terms (Article
91). This measure potentially paves
the way for opposition leader Nawaz
Sharif’s return to that office, though
he has yet to contest a seat for the
national assembly, instead of opting to
lead his party from outside
parliament.
Tensions between the central government
and the provinces over the distribution of
authority and revenues date back to
Pakistan’s inception and have prompted
some of its most traumatic upheavals,
most prominently the 1971 secession of
Bangladesh. Many of the country’s leading
political parties have long demanded
increased autonomy for the provinces.
The 18th Amendment takes important
steps toward resolving some of these
tensions through a devolution of authority
and a strengthened role for the Council on
Common Interests, a joint
provincial forum.
 The 18th Amendment eliminates the
“Concurrent List,” an enumeration of
areas where both federal
provincial governments may legislate
but federal law prevails.
governing marriage, contracts,
firearms possession,
educational curriculums,
environmental pollution, bankruptcy,
and 40 other diverse areas will now
devolve to the provinces with the list
eliminated, and each provincial
assembly will be responsible for
drafting its own laws on the issues.
 Reformers have touted this measure
as a necessary shift for a more federal
system, but there are some concerns
about the ability of provincial
governments to assume effective
regulatory authority in these areas,
which they are now bound to do by
June 30, 2011.
Another important but under-reported
change now specifies that future National
Finance Commission Agreements—which
set the distribution of National Revenues
between the Central Government and the
federal-
provinces—cannot reduce the provinces’
share beyond that given in the previous
agreement (Article 160). This is a move
that may prompt intensified conflict
and between the central government and
provinces in future rounds of revenue
Laws distribution negotiations.
Conflicts between the Judiciary and
labor,
President Zardari’s government over
judicial appointments and the prosecution
of corruption cases have steadily mounted
over the past two years. Judicial
appointment procedures have been one
of the most contentious parts of the
amendment, and despite compromise
agreements essentially giving the chief
justice the deciding vote on nominations,
Supreme Court Bar Association leaders
have indicated their intentions to the remaining three comprising the
challenge the new system. federal law minister, the attorney
general, and a senior lawyer of the
Pakistan’s civilian leadership has
Pakistan Bar Council).
politicized many sectors of the country’s
civil service, and lawyers’ movement The addition of the seventh Judicial
leaders have fought for a more Commission member was a last-minute
independent judiciary since the 2007 change forced by Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N,
ouster of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chauhdry which has increasingly sought to associate
by then-President Musharraf. Greater itself with the lawyers’ movement. The
independence for the judiciary may addition has the effect of giving the Chief
increase its willingness to go after political Justice the deciding vote in commission
corruption, but it also risks entrenching a deliberations.
self-selecting judicial establishment with
The Judicial Commission’s nominees
minimal options for public input on its
appear to have their confirmation
actions or composition.
guaranteed absent an extremely high
 Neither president nor prime minister degree of parliamentary opposition to its
will have a direct role in judicial suggestions. Rejecting a nominee requires
appointments under the 18th a three-quarters majority from the
amendment. The appointments will Parliamentary Committee, and absent
instead be handled by a two-tier rejection, a nominee is deemed confirmed
system—a Judicial Commission will within 14 days regardless of whether a
propose nominees and a special vote was taken or not.
parliamentary committee split evenly
The 18th amendment contains a
between the government and the
substantive restructuring of the Pakistani
opposition will confirm them (Article
government system, but it is the
175A). The seven-member Judicial
seemingly innocuous renaming of the
Commission will be chaired by the
country’s Northwest Frontier Province, or
Chief Justice, who will effectively
NWFP, that has produced some of the
control four of the seven seats (with
most heated political rhetoric thus far and
rioting in some parts of the province that
has killed up to 10. The Awami National
Party (ANP), a nationalist party and
governing coalition partner with its base
of support in the NWFP’s Pashtun
community, has long pushed for the
renaming in order to bring it on par with
the other provinces of Sindh, Balochistan,
and Punjab, all of whom draw their names
from their dominant ethnic groups.
Former Hazara Division residents in the
NWFP are culturally and linguistically
distinct from the rest of the majority
Pashtun province, and both the PML-N
and PML-Q parties, which possess
electoral footholds in the area, oppose
the change. The PML-N finally agreed to
the compromise name “Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa” at the end of March, but
the PML-Q sharply opposed the
prospective name change, seeing an
opportunity to press its rivals. Leaders
from both PML parties have since then
endorsed protesters’ demands for a
separate Hazara province entirely.
The increased power accorded to
provincial governments under the 18th
Amendment is a potential incentive for
parties to support the creation of more
provinces. But it is unclear how much
support these proposals will garner
outside the current cycle of local identity
politics—particularly given the military
establishment’s longstanding opposition
to strong provincialism within the country.
Political Response
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani,
speaking after the passage of the bill,
stated that “it is dividend of the politics of
reconciliation that the Nation and the
Parliament are united today and we have
repealed undemocratic laws inserted to
the Constitution by dictators.”
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman
Imran Khan has said that by passing the
18th Amendment, Pakistan President Asif
Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-N
(PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif made an
attempt to clip the judiciary’s power.
Addressing a rally against loadshedding
and price-hike in Lahore, Khan said he
would thwart the government’s design
against the judiciary.
“If Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari are
true patriot, why don’t they bring their
money from abroad?” The News quoted Moreover, to prevent any strict
Khan, as saying. opposition, Zardari has not changed the
Musharraf appointed Governor Sindh.
“Despite the fact that Pakistan has no
How long this reconciliation policy with
water, no electricity, people are jobless,
the MQM lasts is only a matter of time
factories are lying closed, a hefty amount
now.
of Rs. 30 million is being spent on the
President of this poor country,” he added. Despite Nawaz Sharif’s criticisms over the
changing of NWFP to Khyber-
Khan further said that criminals are ruling
Pakhtunkhwa, Nawaz Sharif has been
the country due to which the people were
reported to state that PML-N shall
suffering, and insisted that there would be
support the 18th Amendment. This might
no changes if people cannot fight for their
be due to the inclusion of Article 91 which
rights.
removes the limits on Prime Ministers
MQM self exiled leader Altaf Hussain serving more than two terms
issued the following statement on
He further said that if the Supreme Court
September 1, 2010: “I call upon honest
would give a decision against the 18th
generals of army to take Martial Law like
amendment, the PML-N will not side with
steps to save this country”.
the government and instead will call a
This statement has resulted in anger,grief party meeting and draw its future line of
and agitation from all quarters of political course.
spectrum. The Military and MQM have a
Addressing a press conference in
history of staying together through thick
Abbottabad in April 2010, PML-Q chief
and thin. Ever since it’s inception in the
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain accused PML-N
80’s, the MQM has supported both Zia-ul-
leader Nawaz Sharif of agreeing to
Haq and Musharraf’s rule and has rallied
support the renaming of the province in
most support during these regimes. Unlike
return for removing the bar on becoming
Musharraf’s rule, when MQM controlled
Prime Minister for the third time.
the Interior Ministry in Sindh, PPP has not
done the same during it’s current period.
According to political observers the
passage of the bill will not be as smooth in
the Senate as it was in the National
Assembly where it was approved in three
days. The senators may press for detailed
debates on important issues.
The PML-Q has 21 senators, including a
few belonging to its splinter ‘likeminded’
faction, in the house of 100 where 67
senators make a two-thirds majority
required for approving a constitutional
amendment.
Talking to Dawn, Leader of the Opposition
Wasim Sajjad said the clause could be
blocked if some other parties supported
the PML-Q position.
He said that JUI-F and some other parties
were under pressure to oppose the
renaming clause and their decision would
have an impact on the voting pattern.
Senator Talha Mehmood of JUI-F said in
Abbottabad that he would vote against
the renaming and ask his colleagues to do
the same.
Mr Sajjad said if the clause was rejected
by the Senate the entire bill would have to
be sent back to the Parliamentary
Committee on Constitutional Reforms for
a review.
“We have witnessed very strong and
violent protests by the people of Hazara
division over the past days which cannot
be ignored by any party which claims to
have political backing in the area,” he
said.
While the PML-N has agreed to the new
name, the PML-Q has suggested that the
province be renamed as ‘Sooba Sarhad’.
The party had written a note of dissent
while signing the draft of the amendment.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Chief
Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman on Sunday, April
11. 2010, said that despite having some
reservations over the renaming of NWFP
as ‘Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,’ his party would
not create any hurdle in approving the
Constitutional Reforms Package, the 18th
Constitutional Amendment Bill from the
Senate. “JUI-F would not create hurdle in
passing of the constitutional reforms. The
party would play the role in the Senate
what it performed in the National
Assembly,” Maulana told reporters.
However, he said his party had some
reservations over renaming of NWFP as
there seems to be a lack of consensus
among people of the province. “They have
not been consulted in this regard,”
Maulana opined. Maulana blamed the
leadership of Awami National Party (ANP)
and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-
N) for not handling the issue in a better
manner.
The 18th Amendment Case
The Supreme Court is currently hearing a
number of identical petitions challenging
certain provisions of 18th Amendment,
particularly the formation of a judicial
commission for the appointment of senior
judges. The bench is currently hearing the
arguments of Abdul Hafeez Pirzada over
certain provisions of the 18th
Amendment.
Pirzada has said that amending the
constitution was “not a child’s play, but
serious business”. He said that despite the
PPP enjoying a majority at the time the
constitution was framed, the then
premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had directed
the judiciary to consult all the parties and
the opposition’s objection was
accommodated in the 1973 Constitution.
Pirzada stated that the court is
considering the amendments “not for
today, but all times to come”.
Justice Javed Iqbal questioned Pirzada as
to whether the sovereignty of parliament
could be curtailed on the basis of the
‘Basic Structure Theory’ and the powers of
the apex court be enhanced to interpret
laws.
Pirzada replied that it is the court’s duty
to preserve the basic features of the
constitution and hold the judicial review
intact, adding that the structure would
collapse if the judges say they could not
review the laws. He said that any
constitutional amendment must be struck
down if it violates the conscience and the
basic structure theory.
The counsel contended that the nexus
between the president and the chief
justice had been eliminated through the
insertion of Article 175-A regarding the
appointment of judges in the superior
judiciary by the 18th Amendment. He said
according to the old mechanism, the
appointments were made through a
consultation process between the two
heads, in which priority was given to the
CJP’s recommendations.
He emphasized that the old mechanism
should be revived. To a bench query, he
said once Article 175-A was abolished, the
old system would stand revived.
To Justice Sair Ali’s observation that the
presence of two representatives of the
executive – the AGP and the law minister
– would be an attempt to bridge that gap,
Pirzada replied that both these officials
were not wanted.
Pirzada said a new constitution has been
brought in, adding that Article 175-A was
legislation and not an amendment.
4. Does the 18th Amendment go against
the Basic Structure Theory and thus
should be scrapped altogether?
5. Does the argument of the Basic
Structure Theory apply in Pakistan?
6. What middle ground can be achieved
considering the level of opposition
certain clauses face by major political
parties?
7. Is there a need to revise the new
Judicial Appointment System?
8. What improvements, if any, can be
made to the new National Finance
Commission Agreements System?

Questions A Resolution Must Answer

1. Should the renaming of NWFP to

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa be revised in
light of the Hazara incident?

2. Can a reconciliation be reached by

granting Hazara provincial status?

3. Is there a need to put Article 91 which

removes the limit on prime ministers
serving more than two terms, back on
the table?
 Topic B: The Kalabagh Dam & 2010 Floods
Statement of the Problem
With a devastation level that surpasses
the tsunami of 2004 – according to a UN
report – the ‘superflood’ ravaging
Pakistan has yet again revived one of the
hottest debates since President
Musharraf’s era; the Kalabagh Dam.
Whereas the matter had been brushed
under the rug in 2008 with the candid
statement by the Water and Power
Minister for Pakistan – Raja Pervez Ashraf
- stating that the KBD had been cancelled,
recent floods have lead Prime Minister
Yousaf Raza Gilani to admit that many
deaths and much destruction could have
been averted had the KBD been
constructed.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan also
moved in favor of the Kalabagh Dam in
July 2010 after the flood calamity hit the
country, with a petition filed by Azam
Khan Sultanpuri urging the apex court to
order immediate construction of the dam
to avoid future losses of similar nature.
Even in light of current events, however,
the political parties in Sindh and Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa are unwilling to bend on the
issue, and are insisting that dams &
reservoirs other than the KBD should be
considered for prevention of future
disasters. Some Pakhtoons are going as
far as claiming that had the KBD been in
place, it would have worsened the wrath
of the floods rather than decrease it.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has
urged the various political parties in the
country to come to a consensus on KBD
soon so that swift action could be taken.
With Punjab standing alone in favor of the
dam with rigid opposition from Sindh and
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the matter looks
grim.
Discussion of the Problem
Since inception of its design in 1984
during General Zia-ul-Haq’s reign with the
help of the UNDP for WAPDA and
supervised by the World Bank, the
Kalabagh Dam project has been
controversial. The dam is proposed to be
built on the River Indus in the Mianwali
district of Punjab, bordering Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa. Its 2001 estimated cost is
about $6.4 billion.
The problem’s roots lie in the deep and
old mistrust between the provinces of
Pakistan, which is normally divided along
the lines of Punjab vs. Sindh, Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan. To
aggravate the situation is the fact that
normally the central power lies with
Punjab because of its size and population,
creating more apprehensions in the
smaller provinces.
Punjab is the only proponent of the dam
since the project was introduced. It argues
that KBD will generate up to 2400-
3600MW of electricity which will benefit
Pakistan’s economy by not only
countering the power shortage in the
country but also by providing water
storage facilities (with a capacity of 6.1
MAF), for itself and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,
as well as by preventing floods in Sindh
and Lower Punjab which cause huge
damages every 5 years. Another added
advantage of the KBD is the estimated
employment of around 30,000 individuals
both, during construction and after
commission of the dam.
It is essential to note here that since the
Indus Water Treaty of 1960, three major
rivers of Punjab, i.e. Biyas, Sutlej, and Ravi
only get water when India releases its
flood waters. This has caused much land
to become barren, and the construction of
the KBD will help remove that problem by
providing water for irrigation. Thus, the
intentions of Punjab are considered
doubtful by KP and Sindh provinces.
The remaining three provinces of Pakistan
hold their ground on being against the
project and in fact, have all passed
resolutions in their provincial assemblies
rejecting it. Whereas Balochistan is not
directly benefited nor harmed by KBD, it is
still firm that going ahead with the project
will be illustrated as Punjab lording over
the small provinces.
On the other hand, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
argues that construction of the dam will
cause large parts of Nowshera District to
become submerged, as well as create
problems of water-logging and salinity for
areas up to 200km of the proposed site. It
also claims that though most of the
reservoir will be in the vicinity of KP, the
electricity-generating turbines will be
located in Punjab as a result of which
Punjab will receive the power royalties
instead of KP. Punjab has, however,
promised not to claim any royalties from
the KBD generated power, but there is an
acute trust deficit between the two
provinces.
Sindh is the biggest opponent of the
Kalabagh Dam. The province has long
accused Punjab of “water theft” which
already occurs due to the presence of
Mangla and Tarbela Dams on the Indus
River, and argues that construction of KBD
or even Bhasha and Katzarah dams will
further worsen the situation. It claims an
inherent right over all of the Indus river
water, and says that the KBD will benefit
KP and Punjab at the cost of Sindh’s
irrigation water. Added to that is the
theory that if the constant flow of water
from the Indus into the Arabian Sea is
disrupted, it will cause vast areas of the
Sindh coast to become saline deserts, as
well as destroy its Mangroves.
There are also numerous other myths
shared by the general population about
the Kalabagh dam with regards to wildlife
management, the delta ecosystem, sea-
water intrusion, backwater effect,
resettlement issues, desertification,
cultivation in flooded areas, ground-level
rise, and land submergence which have
been addressed in one of the reference
links at the bottom. A few consequences
of not constructing the KBD - e.g. threat to
food security as well as impact on
agricultural & industrial sectors - are also
mentioned in the document.
Critics say that apart from the obvious,
the KBD will also have huge
environmental costs as expected of any
large dam. Furthermore, even if the KBD’s
construction begins tomorrow, it will take
6-8 years for the dam to be operational,
during which period the looming water
and energy crises will deteriorate. Hence,
the need for alternate reservoirs and
dams is also dire to avoid future
complications.
Many people look towards the
construction of Bhasha dam as a rescue
program, but there are technical glitches
in the design of the Bhasha dam which
have yet to be resolved. Furthermore, it
will take Bhasha dam a minimum of 12
years to become operational (see
reference).
All in all, some sort of water management
strategy needs to be devised to combat
not only the inevitable water and power
shortages in the country, but also to
tackle Indian tactics to control Pakistan’s
water resources.

As delegates of the PNA at FROMUN ’10,

you will be expected to come to a
consensus regarding the Kalabagh Dam, as
well as alternate solutions to the KBD in
case the project is rejected. You will also
be expected to know the stance of not
only your political party, but also the
personal opinions of the individuals you
will be representing.
 Links for Further Research

Topic A

 http://www.na.gov.pk/passed_bill/passed_bill_2010/constitution_eighteenth_amendm
ent_act2010_080410.pdf

 http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/14/a_province_by_any_other_name

 http://www.pakistanconstitution-law.com/theconst_1973.asp

 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010%5C04%5C11%5Cstory_11-4-
2010_pg3_2

 http://www.risepakistan.net/2010/05/24/18th-amendment-revenge-of-pakistani-
democracy/

Topic B

 http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:o9oy2SAgK2kJ:www.contactpakistan.com
/downloads/KALABAGH%2520DAM.pdf+kalabagh+dam&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjJ
O-KpgY8j3Oq7OZ-
q3lm1ZdHKC_OwbJxdQzNiX2NJ5KXWyJQnXMCHuR0meB8q9ZLr68FPtVEwuSrZ4wRW4jC
eTWbRWjWibmvFcKJui_IPIKObMjFpK1sKz7KWXXOcGe0YL77g&sig=AHIEtbTLnuuP61F5Z
b7kdTOapaNOWtkQkg

 http://viewstonews.com/index.php/kalabagh-dam-its-need-and-significance/pakistan

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalabagh_Dam