Opposition stages walkout over FATA reforms being off the agenda in NA

NA speaker postpones session indefinetly

ISLAMABAD: Despite extension in the National Assembly session for two days, the government on Thursday failed to table the bill aimed at reforming the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

The session was prorogued for an indefinite period as lack of quorum prevented the house from taking any agenda item on Thursday amid continued boycott of the session by opposition parties since the day one.

The 50^th session of the National Assembly, which began on December 11 was supposed to continue until December 19, according to the decision taken by the Business Advisory Committee of the house. However, the government took two more days in a hope to be able to table the Fata reforms bill.

Originally, the bill was part of the agenda of the session but the government withdraw it from the agenda for want of support from its key allies, mainly the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). However, the abrupt pull-out of the bill from the agenda led to a strong protest from the opposition.

Starting on December 11, the opposition continued its boycott of the NA proceedings in the shape of daily walkouts. The government extended the session for two more days, and on Thursday it again failed to convince its allies about tabling the bill and get it passed from the house.

The government was supposed to move the bill to extend jurisdictions of the Supreme Court and the Peshawar High Court to Fata. The issue of Fata’s merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) is also contested by the government allies.



On Thursday, Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPP-P) parliamentary leader Syed Naveed Qamar lamented that the government failed to present the Fata reforms bill despite its commitment.

“Why the government is playing with the emotions of the people of Fata,” he asked while speaking on a point of order.

“The government made a mistake by withdrawing the bill from the agenda. We will not compromise on the rights of the people of Fata. Our protest will continue till the withdrawn bill becomes part of the proceedings of the house,” he said.

Minister of States and Frontier Regions Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch assured the house that the Fata bill would be introduced soon. He said the government remained committed to tabling the bill, but it needed some time. “Consultations in this regard have entered the final phase,” he added.



Later, the opposition staged a walkout in protest. PPP-P’s Ramesh Lal pointed out the quorum and Speaker Ayaz Sadiq suspended the proceedings until the quorum was complete. However, when the proceedings resume, the quorum was still incomplete and Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi prorogued the session.

Meanwhile, the PPP-P submitted a calling-attention notice to the National Assembly Secretariat on Thursday about the government’s decision to stop a number of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) from working in the country

“We, the undersigned, would like to draw the attention of the Minister for Interior towards the decision of the government to ban a large number of INGOs operating across Pakistan causing grave concern among public,” says the notice, signed by Dr Nafisa Shah, Shugufta Jummani, Shahida Rehmani, Dr Shazia Sobia, Beelam Hasnain and others.

“The decision will seriously affect the ongoing development and relief work carried out by these organisations which will adversely impact the people of Pakistan. Besides, it may affect Pakistan’s relations with the international community. This is a serious matter which warrants immediate response from the minister on the floor of the house,” the notice reads.