Four ex-FATA senators to retire next year

PESHAWAR:

After the merger of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber-Pakhtunkwa (K-P), four senators elected from these areas are set to complete their term in March.

Another four senators, however, will remain in office until 2024.

At the moment, the tribal areas - which were previously considered as federal areas, were exclusively represented in the upper house of Parliament through eight senators. They were elected by members of the national assembly.

Four senators, including Aurangzeb Khan, Haji Momin Afridi, Taj Afridi and Sajjad Hussain Turi, had been elected to the upper house of Parliament as independent candidates in 2015 for a six-year tenure. That tenure is due to expire early next year.

Another four senators were elected from Fata in 2018, shortly before the tribal areas were merged with the province. This made them the last senators to be elected from Fata.

These lawmakers include Hidayatullah Khan, Hilalur Rehman, Mirza Muhammad Afridi and Shamim Afridi.

After they complete their term, their seats, in their current form will cease to exist and will instead merge with those of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2020.