NA, PA: consensus reached on seats for tribal lawmakers

Govt, opposition agree to present bill in parliament for approval

ISLAMABAD: The government and the opposition have reached a consensus on allocation of seats in the national and provincial assemblies for the erstwhile Fata’s lawmakers.

Under the consensus, it has been decided that 12 seats from the National Assembly, eight seats from the Senate and 24 seats from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly will be allocated for the tribal areas’ lawmakers.

Currently, the K-P Assembly has 124 elected members - 99 regular seats, 22 reserved seats for women and three for non-Muslims.
A bill will be presented in parliament for approval.

The development took place during a consultation meeting at the opposition leader’s chamber in which Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri represented the government, while Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Asif, Asad Mehmood, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Murtaza Javed the opposition. MNA’s from tribal districts Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar were also present.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, the federal minister for religious affairs said, “It has been decided that a unanimous bill will be brought in parliament for approval.”

He said the number of seats for the National Assembly will be determined in the bill. “Right now 12 seats have been agreed upon. We have met the opposition leaders. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has favoured the bill,” said Qadri.

Qadri said Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has directed his party to support the bill.
Qadri thanked the opposition and the government benches for their support.

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