Merger with K-P: Govt in a fix as allies renew opposition to FATA reforms

JUI-F and PkMAP have refused to budge on their stances

ISLAMABAD: The federal government is in a fix over how to push forward its Fata reforms plan in the wake of renewed opposition from its two key allies — the Jamiat Ulema-e- Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP).

On December 15, the cabinet deferred approval of the Fata Reforms Committee report as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed Minister for States and Frontier Regions (Safron) Abdul Qadir Baloch to iron out differences with both the JUI-F and the PkMAP.

Under the current proposal, the seven agencies of Fata will each become a separate district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and the process will be completed in five years. In addition, there are also proposed development programmes that will spread over a period of 10 years.



Baloch recently met JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman but, according to sources privy to the meeting, Fazl refused to budge on his stance. “He did not give in and questioned the report of the committee,” an official of the Safron ministry said.

Sources said that in a recent meeting, Fazl also communicated his concerns to the prime minister and made a few demands which include appointment of his people against some key positions.

Baloch is unlikely to meet Fazl again in connection with the Fata reforms as “the decision in this regard can be made by the PM”, a senior official of the ministry said.

In a National Assembly session, the JUI-F chief had strongly criticised the reforms package and demanded a referendum in Fata on its merger with K-P and on other major proposals of the package.

Earlier this week, he renewed his opposition to the ‘radical reforms’ for the people of Fata, saying that a handful of people could not decide the fate of millions of people.

Upon seeing the sensitivity of the issue, Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, who was heading the Fata reforms committee,  met Fata lawmakers on Wednesday. In the meeting, it was agreed that a government-level dissemination campaign would be initiated. The participants also agreed that all differences should be resolved through consensus.



For implementing the 10-year development plan, the six-member reforms committee has suggested allocating three per cent of resources from the federal divisible pool to Fata. Besides, Fata would be getting Rs90 billion per annum against the development plan.

The committee has proposed holding local government elections in Fata by the end of 2017 once all the temporarily displaced persons have returned.

Both houses of parliament have already held lengthy debates on the report. The Senate was to send the report of the committee to the ministry but the government hastily submitted an ‘all is well’ report to the cabinet for approval.

A summary of over 150 pages was submitted to the cabinet including all the positive inputs on the reforms package. No criticism of the proposals were submitted. This resulted in deferment of the agenda.

The provinces in a recent meeting of the National Finance Commission Award (NFC) had agreed to give four per cent of the federal divisible pool for the development of Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir. Official sources said a tentative agreement of the provinces might also hit the government which was eyeing three per cent only for Fata from the divisible pool.



PkMAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai has also expressed serious concerns over the reforms proposals in and outside parliament. He recently demanded Pakistani citizenship for Afghan refugees and establishment of a new Afghania province stretching from the Afghan border to Attock and Mianwali.

Interestingly, both the parties have also objected to the repatriation of Afghan refugees to Afghanistan and have forced the government to extend the deadline for the process.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2016.