KABUL - More than two dozens of lawmakers on Saturday staged a walkout from the Wolesi Jirga or lower house over the proposed route of a trans-regional power import project, but others criticised the walkout.
The Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TUTAP) power project will import 500kv of electricity from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to Pakistan through Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE) has recommend the project be implemented through Salang Pass crossing Baghlan province, but a number of people have stressed the scheme should pass through central Bamyan province.
The issue was discussed in Wolesi Jirga today’s session. MP Mohammad Akbari from Bamyan said the government was ignoring people’s demands who wanted the project to be crossed through Bamyan.
He said he was leaving the session in support of implementing the project through Bamyan.
Other lawmakers also held similar views and 30 of them left the session. They said they would not attend house sessions until the fate of the project became clear.
However, a number of other Wolesi Jirga members said TUTAP project should not be turned into a tribal issue.
Haji Mohammad Almas Zahid from central Parwan province stressed national unity and said it was a conspiracy of some foreign countries to fuel tribal differences in Afghanistan. (Pajhwok)