ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Thursday that there was a complete consensus between federal and provincial governments on the merger of the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
Taking to a Jirga comprising youth wings of various political parties from Fata, Abbasi the high-level implementation committee, established in this context, was ensuring that all the constitutional, administrative and legal matters related to the merger were resolved as soon as possible within the domain of the Constitution and the law.
“The government has adopted a go-slow policy on the Fata merger with the KP as coalition partners – the Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-Fazal and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party - have reservations over the package finalized by the government. The government plans to hold further consultations on the Fata reforms package to evolve a consensus before its implementation,” the premier said.
Qaumi Watan Party chief Aftab Sherpao had warned that the government was losing credibility for delaying the merger of the tribal belt with the KP province. He believed the merger was a ‘settled issue’ after an agreement of the stakeholders.
He ridiculed the government for failing to convince its own allies – the JUI-F and the PkMAP – on the issue while expecting others to give their verdict.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s ally, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, is not ready to expect a merger at this point. He recently said the proposed merger would be a ‘fraud’ with the people living in tribal areas.
Until now, Fata is a semi-autonomous tribal region in northwestern Pakistan, consisting of seven tribal agencies or districts and six frontier regions. These areas are directly governed by the federal government through a special set of laws called the Frontier Crimes Regulations.
Fata borders provinces of KP and Balochistan to the east and south, and Afghanistan's provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost and Paktika to the west and north. The main towns of the territory are Parachinar, Miramshah, Razmak, Wanna, Jamrud, and Landi Kotal.
Prime Minister Abbasi said the federal and the provincial governments were committed to mainstreaming Fata and merging it with the KP to ensure its development.
The delegation members said setting aside political affiliations, the people and the youth of Fata were demanding mainstreaming of Fata on a fast-track basis and its merger with KP.
The delegation thanked the prime minister for inviting the representative of the youth from Fata at the PM’s House and providing them an opportunity to present their point of view on the important national issue, said an official statement.
They stressed that Fata’s merger must not be delayed at behest of a few people and the matter must be settled on an urgent basis.
Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch also attended the meeting. The Fata youth delegation comprised of representatives from the Muslim Students Federation, the Insaf Students, the Qaumi Watan Party Youth Wing, the Islami Jamiat Tulaba, the Fata Students Organization, the Khyber Students Organization and other organizations.