NA approves merger of Fata, Pata with KP

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) on Thursday passed the 31st amendment in the Constitution with two-thirds majority for merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) province.

The Constitution (Thirsty First Amendment) Bill, 2018 which required 228 votes for passage sailed through with 229 votes while one vote was cast at the time of division of votes. Hence, one vote defined the majority decision in this case. The bill envisages an end to special powers of the President, governor and FCR.

As Law Minister Mahmood Bashir Virk moved the amendment bill, eleven members opposing the bill were present in the House. However, at start of clause by clause reading, JUI-F member staged walk-out and by the time of division of votes, only one member was left to oppose integration of Fata and Pata with KP province.

As per requirements of Article 239 of the Constitution, the amendment bill would also require two-thirds majority support of the KP Assembly after it is passed by the Senate with the same majority. The KP assembly is going to complete its term on May 28. The constitution amendment envisages amendments in article 246 and repeals article 247 which places the tribal areas under the command and control of the President.

Clause 4 of Article 239 of the Constitution says ‘a bill to amend the Constitution which would have the effect of altering the limits of a province shall not be presented to the President for assent unless it has been passed by the provincial assembly of that provinces by the votes of not less than two thirds of its total membership’.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan turned up in the House to participate in passage of the amendment bill. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi approached Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah and shook hands with Imran Khan in a pleasant mood.

Parliamentary leaders of JUI-F and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Maulana Fazalur Rehman and Mehmood Khan Achakzai who have been opposing merger of Fata and Pata with KP province did not turn up.

As per Clause 3 of the bill which will envisage amendment in Article 51 of the Constitution, number of NA seats will come down from 342 to 336. As many as 12 seats will stand abolished with merger of tribal areas with the province. There will be increase of six NA seats for KP province from 39 to 45. However, MNAs from Fata elected in 2018 general elections shall continue till dissolution of the NA.

According to an amendment in Article 59 of the Constitution, number of Senate seats will come down from 104 to 96 as eight existing seats for Fata will be abolished. However, the existing members of the Senate from Fata shall continue till expiry of their respective terms. Similarly, according to amendment in Article 106 of the Constitution, the strength of members in the KP Assembly will from existing 124 (99 general seats, 22 women seats and two non-Muslims) will increase to 145 seats (115 general seats, 26 women seats and four non-Muslims seats).

Elections for increased 21 seats including 16 general seats, four women and one for non-Muslims in areas falling in existing Fata will be held within a period one year. The amendment bill is likely to be tabled for passage in the Senate on Friday (today) after which it will be placed in the KP Assembly by May 28 before assent of the President.

Earlier, following start of the NA proceedings, it took nearly two hours to complete required number of members in the House. At one stage, Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah as a protest said the bill should be left to the next assembly if the government was interested in its passage.

On that, the Prime Minister requested the opposition members to wait for another few minutes saying the amendment bill was being made possible with joint efforts of the government and opposition.

Prime Minister Abbasi said the passage of the historic bill will have far-reaching effects for the whole country. He said the House today demonstrated national consensus on an important issue and expressed the confidence that other matters faced by the country will be addressed with the same spirit.

He thanked the opposition benches for extending support in the passage of the constitution amendment. He said efforts for Fata reforms had been continued over the last four years. He said that the committee under the supervision of Sartaj Aziz worked for two and a half years to formulate Fata reforms package.

He said the passage of the bill is just a beginning to bring Fata to the national mainstream. “We have to win trust and confidence of the tribal people by fulfilling development needs there,” the Prime Minister observed.

He said the PML-N was committed for the fast-track development of the area and this House will also have to express commitment towards this end. He said they have to give the same kind of amenities to the people of Fata which are available to the people of other regions. He said there should be no discrimination on the matter of development as tribal people are also equal citizens of the country.

Prior to passage of the bill, Dr. Farooq Sattar of MQM said they have been taking categorical stance with regard to Fata and their today’s support to the bill was proof of the fact. He said the MQM had already submitted bills for creation of new provinces like Hazara, South Punjab and Fata. The PPP members strongly protested against remarks of Farooq Sattar when he said now that grievance of people of Fata were being addressed, why problems of people of what he said “Karachi Administrated Tribal Areas” could be given weight.

Responding to the points of Sahabzada Tariqullah of Jamaat-e-Islami, the Prime Minister assured that the tax exemptions to Fata and Pata will remain available. On the points raised by the Opposition Leader and others on the water shortages in Sindh, the Prime Minister said water distribution among provinces is done on the basis of Water Accord 1991. He said currently ninety percent less water is available in Mangla and Tarbela and water flow has reduced by fifty-four percent as compared to previous years due to less snowfall.

He said if a province, especially Sindh, have any reservation on the water allocation by Irsa, they can bring the issue to the Council of Common Interest (CCI). The Prime Minister made it clear that government has nothing to do with the water distribution as it has been done on the basis of vote by Irsa members.

Naveed Qamar of the PPP said the passage of constitution amendment will be an important milestone in bringing the tribal areas at a par with other areas of the country. He also expressed satisfaction that all the parties were on the same page on this matter.

Sahabzada Tariqullah of Jamaat-e-Islami also welcomed the passage of the constitution amendment and expressed the confidence that it will usher a new of prosperity in the tribal areas.

Earlier, the dissident PTI member Dawar Kundi, an independent member from Fata, Bilal Rehman and parliamentarians from JUI-F and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party including Maulana Jamaluddin, Naeema Kishwar Khan, Naseem Panezai and Abdul Qadar Wahan Khan opposed the bill when it was moved.

Wahan said the people of Fata wanted their separate province. Without naming Imran Khan, he said the member who cursed Parliament was also present in the House. Naeema Kishwar said the PML-N and PTI leaders have been abusing each other but now they were together when it comes to playing with rights of people of Fata areas.

They said the merger of Fata with KP province would amount to playing with rights of people of Fata claiming majority of people of tribal areas were not in support of their merger in province.