NA session: FATA women representation bill put on hold

JUI-F registers protest against governor’s rule in Balochistan.

ISLAMABAD:

The government resisted on Tuesday a constitutional amendment seeking allocation of reserved seats for women in tribal areas, in the lower house.

Yasmeen Rehman, the mover of the bill, which seeks the representation of women from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in Parliament, was singled out after her party’s (the Pakistan Peoples Party’s) chief whip Khursheed Ahmed Shah put the bill on hold for further discussion.

Shah was initially against the tabling of the bill altogether, saying, owing to its nature, it should not be tabled without prior consultation. However, while Rehman convinced him to have it tabled, the bill was never referred to the relevant standing committee, which is standard procedure.

The PPP MNA termed the non-representation of Fata women in Parliament a discrimination against womenfolk of the area. “I know it is difficult to get this bill passed since it requires a two-thirds majority for being a constitutional amendment but at least it will kick-start a debate,” Rehman said while talking to The Express Tribune.



“I will raise the issue through a point of order today (Wednesday) and ask members for a discussion over it,” she added.

Noor Alam Khan and Akhunzada Chittan, both from the PPP, had also moved the bill along with Rehman, but were absent during Tuesday’s session, leaving her to fight for its introduction in the legislative process.

However, Bushra Gohar from the Awami National Party came to Rehman’s rescue and said that the time had come to integrate Fata with the rest of the country and proposed the formation of a committee to introduce the constitutional amendment in parliament.

Meanwhile during the proceedings, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam- Fazl chief took the government to task for imposing governor’s rule in Balochistan.

“The PPP has developed a habit of taking undemocratic measures,” said Fazlur Rehman. “What kind of democracy has the PPP been pursuing? In the beginning they slapped governor’s rule in Punjab and now at the end of its tenure they did the same in Balochistan,” he added.

The government imposed governor’s rule and dissolved the provincial assembly in Balochistan, following a three-day sit-in by the Shia Hazaras over an attack on their community in Quetta that left over 100 people dead.

He said that the situation in Karachi and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was not different from Balochistan yet no such decision was made there.

Fazl warned his party would launch a movement against governor’s rule in Balochistan till the “undemocratic act” was reversed. “The JUI-F would walk out from the entire session if the decision is not taken back,” he said, right before walking out of the lower house with his party to record his protest

Meanwhile, the lower house unanimously approved a resolution to bestow the highest civil award to politicians who have lost their lives in the war against terrorism, including ANP’s Bashir Bilour and the MQM’s Manzar Imam. The resolution was moved by Iqbal Qadri from the MQM.

Later on, opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, had not accepted any agreement between the government and Dr Qadri for the dissolution of assemblies.

Addressing the media at parliament house, he expressed the fear that attempts were being made to delay the general elections.

He said that candidates for a caretaker set-up should also be nominated from Sindh and Balochistan, adding that the two provinces should not be overlooked any more.

The PML-N leader said that the Punjab government will not let the assemblies dissolve until these conditions were accepted.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2013.