Govt postpones tabling of FATA reforms bill in NA

The ruling party fell short on its promise to table reforms bill for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in the Parliament on Friday.

On Thursday, the federal cabinet had approved moving the Thirtieth Amendment Bill, reiterating the promise by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi that the government intended to “take reforms to its logical conclusion during the current tenure of assemblies".

The much-hyped bill includes the merger of the tribal areas with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa within two years despite staunch opposition from two of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N)’s strongest allies.



The decision came after one the major stumbling blocks to Fata’s merger— Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman — came down hard on the government in the National Assembly and termed the integration of Fata ‘a global conspiracy’.

The prime minister has held four meetings with heads of parliamentary parties but so far the JUI-F and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) had been opposing the merger. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) also recently joined the two allies of the government and demanded a referendum in the tribal areas.

Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch also announced in the house that the Fata reforms package included infrastructure development, the establishment of courts, deployment of Frontier Constabulary and allocation of 3 per cent share from the federal divisible pool in the National Finance Commission award.

However, Rs100 billion promised for Fata annually as per the plan has to be provided for 10 years.