Assembly approves bill merging FATA with KP

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly on Sunday approved the KP-FATA merger bill, paving way for the merger of the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) with the province.

The bill was passed with two-thirds majority — a Constitutional prerequisite for the proposed merger. As many as 92 lawmakers voted in favour while seven MPAs used their votes against the bill.

Following the provincial assembly’s approval, the landmark bill will bring the tribal borderlands, comprising seven agencies and six Frontier Regions, to the mainstream and they will be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Tribal people will get representation in the KP Assembly through the amendment.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, while speaking in the assembly, asked the opponents of the bill to unite with those in favour. He said that the local bodies elections will be held in FATA this year, whereas the general elections will be held next year.

“During a meeting of the FATA Reforms Committee, Chief of Army Staff Gen Javed Qamar Bajwa had asked me to settle the issue of FATA once and for all,” he told fellow lawmakers.
The chief minister made it clear that Shariah Nizam-e-Adl Regulation (SNAR) would not be touched under the bill.

Protest against merger

Party workers, including those from FATA,, had gathered outside the KP assembly since early morning and had threatened to put padlocks on the assembly gates so that no one could make it inside the premises for the session that was scheduled for 2pm.

After hours of negotiations and resorting to baton-charge, police had managed to control the workers and clear them from the entrance to the assembly building.

“We will not let the FATA merger bill be approved,” the protesters had chanted as they started burning tires on the road leading to the assembly.

District administration and the police had persistently tried to convince the protesters to vacate the area in front of the main entrance and continued their protest outside the back gate of the assembly. –Dawn