No External Pressure But Political Consensus Led To FATA Merger Legislation: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published May 24, 2018 | 08:42 PM

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Thursday said the bill providing for merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been passed earlier on the day by the National Assembly following the consensus among the political parties, not because of any external pressure

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th May, 2018 ) :Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Thursday said the bill providing for merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been passed earlier on the day by the National Assembly following the consensus among the political parties, not because of any external pressure.

Talking to reporters at a news conference here, the prime minister said the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been part of the Pakistan Muslim League-N's manifesto, but later the political parties termed it a good step and extended their support to the passage of the bill with clear two-third majority in the National Assembly.

He said the government had formed the FATA Reforms Committee led by Sartaj Aziz that followed the constitution of an implementation committee comprising the chief minister and governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, army chief and other stakeholders.

After threadbare debate, all the stakeholders evolved consensus to replace centuries old tribal laws with the regular laws and merge the area with KP, he added. He said the bill had also given a timeframe for the local government to be held this year.

The provincial assembly election will be held within a year as delimitation and political system were yet to be established there. The prime minister who was accompanied by cabinet members including Marriyum Aurangzeb, Lt.

Gen (Retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch, former law minister Zahid Hamid and MNA from FATA Shah Jee Gul Afridi, said under the bill, 12 National Assembly seats had been maintained though the area was entitled to six seats as per recent national census. Eight seats of Senate have also been protected. All those eight Senate seats would stand abolished by 2024.