Meeting with senators: Political alliance pushes for mainstreaming FATA

Agenda seeks shift of legislative power from the president of Pakistan to the parliament.

ISLAMABAD:

A delegation of Fata Committee – an alliance of political parties working for reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) – met senators to push for recommendations to bring Fata under the ambit of Parliament.

The eleven-point agenda, unanimously approved by ten major political parties, includes an amendment to Article 247 of the Constitution to shift the legislative power from the president of Pakistan to the parliament.

The committee also recommends implementation of the local bodies’ system and holding of the LB elections in Fata – a proposal, whose draft has been presented but still awaits implementation.

It also demands extension of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to the tribal belt and abolition of the Action in Aid of Civil Power as well as bifurcation of the executive and judiciary.

Speaking on the occasion, Senate Standing Committee on Defence’s Chairman Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that it is only Fata where authorities are allowed to destroy the houses of people as punishment for an alleged crime.

Senate’s Functional Committee on Human Rights Chairman Senator Afrasiab Khattak said Fata was the unfinished project of a democratic Pakistan.

“The names Fata and Pata sound like formulae of chemistry,” he said with a dash of sarcasm. “Peace in Fata is now a strategic need of Pakistan,” he added while referring to the connectivity of the area with Central Asia for trade.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2014.