There were times when elected representatives from the (now defunct) FATA lacked the numerical strength needed to move legislation that would help their people. The Triabl Areas would send 12 members to the National Assembly and 8 to the Senate of Pakistan who had no power to pass a law for the tribal people. Several governments in the history of Pakistan tried to bring about reforms for mainstreaming the tribal areas, mostly in vain.
Despite being citizens of the same country, the people of defunct FATA never had guaranteed fundamental rights. The Tribal Areas had been ruled under the British-era Frontier Crimes Regulation Law of 1901.
During its last tenure, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government formed a five-member committee under the supervision of Sartaj Aziz to bring about reforms in Tribal Areas. Finally, the merger of FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was legislated through the 25th Constitutional Amendment. Given the reservations against it, the FATA-KP merger is a landmark achievement for which credit is mainly due to the Nawaz government.
The jurisdiction(s) of the Supreme Court and the High Courts have been extended to the Tribal Areas and a five to 10 years plan has been made to bring the Tribal Areas to a par with areas that were settled earlier.
The FATA-KP merger is a landmark achievement. The credit is mainly due to the Nawaz government
The merger legislation was not locally very popular for more than 70 per cent of the tribal people were not in the favour of retaining the independent status of the FATA. Some of them demanded a separate province.
The latest Constitutional Amendment has also broken the legislation drought. After the general election of 2018 when the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf came into power, the government had been unable to make any laws.
On May 9, independent lawmaker from the Tribal District of North Waziristan Mohsin Dawar introduced a bill demandeding an increase in the numbers of seats for the erstwhile FATA in the National Assembly and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
In a rare show of unity, government and opposition benches in the National Assembly unanimously passed the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2019, giving more representation to the FATA voters in the lower house of parliament and in the KP Assembly. Earlier, the Standing Committee on Law and Justice had recommended 16 seats in the KP Assembly and six seats in the National Assembly for the general election of 2023. However, the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill increased the tribal people’s representation in the KP Assembly to 24 seats and in the National Assembly to 12 seats till the next census. This is indeed a landmark achievement for the people of the erstwhile FATA.
The bill was passed with 288 votes after speeches from the representatives of all political parties. Prime Minister Imran Khan also attended the session and lauded the National Assembly for the show of unity. Speaking on the floor of the house, the prime minister demanded that all provinces give up 3 per cent of their share in federal resources under the National Finance Commission so that the people of Tribal Areas may be brought into the economic mainstream.
Mohsin Dawar, the mover of the bill, said it was the responsibility of the state to protect the rights of all citizens and ensure their adequate representation in all walks of life.
There is a great need to work unanimously to achieve the objectives of the FATA-KP merger. The merger will have a long-lasting positive impact on the life of local people and the national economy.
The writer is a freelancer