Fate of Fata: PM chairs meeting on Fata reforms today
Fata lawmakers argue with Sartaj Aziz over shairing draft report
PHOTO: FILE
SHABQADAR/ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will chair a meeting of the Fata Reforms Committee on Tuesday (today).
According to a press release issued by the PM office, the committee after exhausting due process of consultations with all stakeholders and diligence has come up with a set of recommendations that will be discussed in the meeting.
Sartaj Aziz, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, heads the committee, constituted by Sharif on November 8 last year. The committee has concluded that the only workable and viable option is to merge Fata with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and devised a ‘five-year transition period’, and it is expected that the prime minister will give his final nod in Tuesday’s meeting.
Meanwhile, the Fata Reforms Committee met with Fata lawmakers and intimated them about development work and reforms finalised for their area in a 51-page report.
It has proposed a set of ‘parallel and concurrent’ political, administrative, judicial and security reforms, as well as a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme for the tribal areas.
However, the report was not shared with the lawmakers during Monday’s meeting and therefore the lawmakers refused to either endorse or condone it. A lawmaker on the condition of anonymity told The Express Tribune that “we told them that if you cannot share the draft with us, then we cannot give our final verdict”.
Also, Fata lawmakers seemed to be divided over the proposed reforms that envisage Fata Good Governance Regulations and a Fata Development Advisory Council.
Monday’s meeting that was meant to galvanise the lawmakers about the proposed reforms witnessed heated arguments between Sartaj Aziz and the lawmakers. They were particularly perturbed by the committee’s refusal to share details of the report with them.
MNA Haji Shahji Gul told The Express Tribune that the government has worked out a plan whereby reforms will be introduced in the tribal belt gradually. He said the Frontier Crimes Regulation will be replaced by the Fata Good Governance Regulations.
“With it, the powers enjoyed by political agents will be drastically reduced and the scope of the superior judiciary will be extended to Fata,” he added.
“Moreover, the Fata Development Advisory Council will have elected members to monitor the overall pace of development and reforms in the areas.”
He said the major aim of the development plan would be to bring Fata at par with the rest of the country on the basis of all major economic and social indicators. For this purpose, he said, the National Finance Commission should be asked to allocate 2% (approximately Rs70 billion) of the divisible pool for the implementation of the 10-year plan.
However, Senator Malik Hilal Rehman chided the government for arranging what he called a ‘briefing’ rather than engaging in in-depth discussions on the Fata reforms with the lawmakers.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2016.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will chair a meeting of the Fata Reforms Committee on Tuesday (today).
According to a press release issued by the PM office, the committee after exhausting due process of consultations with all stakeholders and diligence has come up with a set of recommendations that will be discussed in the meeting.
Sartaj Aziz, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, heads the committee, constituted by Sharif on November 8 last year. The committee has concluded that the only workable and viable option is to merge Fata with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and devised a ‘five-year transition period’, and it is expected that the prime minister will give his final nod in Tuesday’s meeting.
Meanwhile, the Fata Reforms Committee met with Fata lawmakers and intimated them about development work and reforms finalised for their area in a 51-page report.
It has proposed a set of ‘parallel and concurrent’ political, administrative, judicial and security reforms, as well as a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme for the tribal areas.
However, the report was not shared with the lawmakers during Monday’s meeting and therefore the lawmakers refused to either endorse or condone it. A lawmaker on the condition of anonymity told The Express Tribune that “we told them that if you cannot share the draft with us, then we cannot give our final verdict”.
Also, Fata lawmakers seemed to be divided over the proposed reforms that envisage Fata Good Governance Regulations and a Fata Development Advisory Council.
Monday’s meeting that was meant to galvanise the lawmakers about the proposed reforms witnessed heated arguments between Sartaj Aziz and the lawmakers. They were particularly perturbed by the committee’s refusal to share details of the report with them.
MNA Haji Shahji Gul told The Express Tribune that the government has worked out a plan whereby reforms will be introduced in the tribal belt gradually. He said the Frontier Crimes Regulation will be replaced by the Fata Good Governance Regulations.
“With it, the powers enjoyed by political agents will be drastically reduced and the scope of the superior judiciary will be extended to Fata,” he added.
“Moreover, the Fata Development Advisory Council will have elected members to monitor the overall pace of development and reforms in the areas.”
He said the major aim of the development plan would be to bring Fata at par with the rest of the country on the basis of all major economic and social indicators. For this purpose, he said, the National Finance Commission should be asked to allocate 2% (approximately Rs70 billion) of the divisible pool for the implementation of the 10-year plan.
However, Senator Malik Hilal Rehman chided the government for arranging what he called a ‘briefing’ rather than engaging in in-depth discussions on the Fata reforms with the lawmakers.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2016.