Serdar Mehtab Abbasi. PHOTO SAMEER RAZZAQ/EXPRESS
The commission’s report touched upon many issues related to Fata, with security, local governance, the judicial system, constitutional reforms, quick impact projects and economic restoration taking centre stage. However, there remained an eerie silence over the administrative status of Fata and future of the contentious Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR).
Commission chairman Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi handed over the report to Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan after which he briefed the media over the recommendations. These will subsequently be handed over to the federal government to decide their fate.
In the past, two other reports, one under the chairmanship of prominent lawyer Latif Afridi and the other by Justice (Retd) Mian Muhammad Ajmal, were also compiled but their suggestions never saw the light of day.
Security
This report suggested that a special levies force of 500 personnel from each agency and 200 from each frontier region be deployed in the tribal areas. It added the force should be armed with proper resources and given proper training to cope with any law in the tribal belt. Meanwhile, along with the special force, the other levies forces would also be trained in investigation, prosecution and quick response to incidents.
A training centre would be established within two years and the committee also recommended a coordination cell which is to be headed by a retired army official, preferably from Fata. It also suggested a security and intelligence committee, headed by the agency political agent, and comprising frontier constabulary officers and other agency officials.
Justice system
“To make justice accessible, the commission has given proposals based on opinions from tribespeople,” he said. It proposed that the Fata tribunal be increased by four members and its appointed chief is a retired high court judge. Also, one of the members should be illegible to be appointed as a high court judge, while two others be part of the legal fraternity. Moreover, it should consist of retired civil servants who have served in Fata and another member should have roots in the civil society and possess knowledge of tribal customs.
The tribunal would serve for two years and the appointments should be carried out through a scrutiny committee. It shall have two benches; one for southern and the other for northern areas of the tribal belt.
The commission suggested that cases or appeals should be submitted directly to the tribunal with decisions for criminal cases being made within 60 days, while the tribunal could take up to 90 days for civil suits. Similarly, it stated that an additional judicial political agent should be appointed for every agency to ensure the delivery of justice. Qureshi said it would be preferable if these officials were law graduates having served as assistant political agents in the past. He said the system would run with this format for the first three years.
Local governance system
The commission has proposed agency councils with 20 to 25 members, depending on the population, and FR councils with 9 to 11 members. The members will be elected on Nikaat (a system of intertribal shares), while elected parliamentarians from the agency and four technocrats would also be part of the councils.
In the first two years, political agents of agencies and deputy commissioners of FRs would chair the council. The vice chairman must be appointed by members and the councils would be the decisive body at the agency’s level for developmental schemes.
Constitutional reforms
Conspicuous, to say the last, was the commission’s silence over the administrative status of Fata, the future of the notorious FCR and extension of the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s jurisdiction to the tribal areas. Qureshi told the media that meetings and consultations were held with experts and stakeholders. However, they remained inconclusive and it was finally concluded that tirbespeople should decide over their own fate.
It said a commission for reforms should be formed comprising a chairman and vice chairman from each respective agency and FR council, while other members must include parliamentarians from Fata, a woman, a minority representative and an expert on the region.
It said the commission should visit all agencies and FRs and listen to public concerns and establish a uniform opinion within in a period of six months to a year.
Governor council
This body would be headed by the governor, while the chairman and vice chairman of the agency and FR councils would be members. “The aim of the governor council is to strengthen the link between tribal people and the state,” Qureshi said. He maintained that the governor council will consist of five experts from Fata including women, minority representatives, federal secretaries of Safron, interior, finance, planning and development as well as the K-P chief secretary and Fata Additional Chief Secretary.
It would serve as a consultative body of the K-P governor and meet every three months to review developmental works in Fata. Qureshi said an interim governor council will be established for two years and its structure would be changed once the local government system is established. The commission chairman stated that 90% of its members would be elected, while the remainder would be handpicked by the governor himself.
TDPs
The commission recommended restructuring the Fata disaster management authority (FDMA) and for the purpose a committee comprising the all the 4 members of this reform commission, Director General FDMA, Secretary Law and Order FATA will give its proposals for the restructuring. “The aim is to rehabilitate over 300,000 temporarily displaced families belonging to the tribal belt,” said Qureshi. He urged the federal government to continue providing financial assistance to the displaced people till they manage to find their way home. “The government should release the first installment of Rs50,000 [for each family] immediately,” he said.
Quick impact projects
It was suggested that quick impact projects be launched in Fata within 6 months, such as the establishment of a university, industrial state, warehouses and exemption of taxes on basic necessities. It also included interest free loans and a population census through the army.
“A census is needed for local government polls,” he said. “The main reason for the delay in LG elections is that a census has not been carried out in the past 15 years.”
Framework
The commission recommended the restructuring of organisations. It added that line departments associated with Fata secretariat should be merged into one another. “The step will increase efficiency of the department and save monetary resources in those departments working on the same subjects,” he explained.
He added irrigation, hydel power, minerals, industries, technical education and Fata investment and facilitation authority would be merged into the Fata Development Authority. Similarly, finance and planning and development would also be merged.
Regarding the army’s presence in Fata, Qureshi said the time period would be based on ground realities. “It will depend on how long operations are running,” he said. “Our efforts are to limit the role of the army to the borders and we want to depend more on the civilian administration.”
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