ISLAMABAD: The recommendations proposed by the FATA Reforms Committee were endorsed by the participants of a policy dialogue on Thursday. The dialogue was held at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). The recommendations include the gradual merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The participants, however, stressed that the recommendations should be implemented with the consensus and due participation of the people of FATA. The roundtable, chaired by DG-IPS Khalid Rehman, was addressed by KP Senior Minister Inayatullah Khan, Senator Sajjad Hussain Tori, Senator Usman Kakar, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Shehryar Afridi, University of Peshawar Pakistan Study Centre Director Dr Fakhrul Islam, former lawmakers Bushra Gohar, Haroonur Rasheed, Afrasiab Khattak, former ambassador Ayaz Wazir, Brigadier (r) Said Nazeer Mohmand and Dr Sadia Sulaiman. A majority of speakers were of the view that this was the right time and a historic opportunity for the merger, which should be seized without further delay; while the procedural issues for the integration can be addressed in due course of time. The period of five years for an incremental approach for the proposed merger was too long, they felt, stating that there were internal and external forces that can potentially sabotage the present willingness and near consensus of the people of FATA for the much needed change and, as a consequence, the process itself if it was not done immediately. The participants also underscored the need that the people of KP should be sensitised to prepare for this major development, too. KP Minister Inayatullah supported the recommendation for holding local government elections in 2017 in FATA and its subsequent merger into KP before 2018 elections. Citing the example of the merger of East and West Germany, he demanded that the government give people of FATA a 10-year development package to bring themselves at par with the rest of the country. He added that KP was already providing the resources and administrative infrastructure to run FATA. The FATA Secretariat was set up in 2006 by the federal government; before that it was the province which was managing all the affairs. KP was ready to shoulder the responsibility of the merger and integration any time, he claimed. It was an opportunity for the government to prove itself a pro-federation political party by taking this historic step, the minister viewed. Afrasiab Khattak reminded the participants that during the One-Unit System of Ayub Khan, FATA was made part of the West Pakistan province. “We already have the experience and historic example to run it under a constitution,” he maintained. He said Peshawar was a natural geo-political centre for FATA and it would be natural that the tribal region was merged with the province. Khattak cited challenges posed by a huge black economy other non-state actors that can hinder the process of integration even if a constitutional and political decision was made. It was also pointed out that the status of FATA can be changed by an executive order by the president. Also, any debate on the issue of FATA in parliament should also require amendment in Article 247 of the constitution, which bars the parliament to discuss and legislate about FATA region. The constitutional need for population census was also emphasised to avoid mishaps and confusions. FATA Reforms are considered as a deliverable output in the National Action Plan. To achieve the objectives of NAP and to bring FATA into the national mainstream the prime minister formed a six-member FATA Reform Committee in November 2015, mandating it to conduct extensive consultations with the tribesmen and other stakeholders for proposing FATA Reforms. The committee conducted an elaborate consultation process to ascertain the wishes of the people of FATA regarding future reforms according to the process enjoined in the constitution under Article 247 (6). After receiving the views of a large number of tribal jirgas and others, the committee presented its findings to the PM on 23 August who desired a further consultative process as well as the opinion of parliament was sought. Currently, the reform report is being discussed in the National Assembly and later a similar process will be undertaken in the Senate. The FATA Reforms Committee is led by Advisor to PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz with KP Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, SAFRON Minister Abdul Qadir Baloch, Law Minister Zahid Hamid, National Security Advisor Nasir Janjua and SAFRON Secretary Arbab Shehzad as its members. The committee has produced a wide ranging analysis of the situation and has provided major recommendations as well as a detailed implementation plan that includes; A Five-Year Transition Plan driven by a dedicated Directorate of Transition and Reforms led by the KP government but with presence of federal government members in it; Return and Rehabilitation of TDPs by Dec 2017; Reconstruction of homes and markets/infrastructure to be completed by Dec 2018; Establishment of local governance structures and conducting LB elections in FATA by end of 2017; Extension of Fundamental Rights and the writ of the High and Supreme court to FATA; Legal reforms leading to replacement of FCR by Tribal Areas Reform Act; A comprehensive multi-billion rupees, 10-Year socio-economic development plan; and a gradual institutional merger of FATA into KP.