Govt committed to implement FATA reforms: Qadir Baloch

ISLAMABAD: Minister for States and Frontier Regions Lt. Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch on Thursday reiterated resolve of the government to implement reforms about Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

We were given mandate to bring in FATA Reforms and the committee concerned prepared 36 reforms which we are committed to implement to rescue FATA people from existing laws, he said while responding to points made by members on the issue in National Assembly.

He dispelled the impression of difference between the government and its allies and said, there can be a bit of disagreement on one or two points that are being addressed with the allies. We have no pressure from allied parties and issues are being addressed.

The minister said, constitution of Pakistan empowers the President to take executive decisions about FATA but the government opted for broader consultation with political parties, FATA people and every thing was open before the media and people of Pakistan.

He said it is sometimes impertinent to stick to history as history runs through an evolution process and many issues of the past were settled by the Parliaments and the government as required by the prevailing situations.

He said in the proposed Riwaj Act, abolition of FCR has been proposed and there is no disagreement among political parties to abolish this law of old ages. We had the powers under the constitution to implement Riwaj Act through an executive order. But, the government preferred to bring this matter to the Parliament through a bill.

Our this gesture has manifested our will to ensure supremacy of the Parliament so the both houses could have detailed discussion on the matter to reach a conclusion, he added.

The minister said the matter is with the Standing Committee and it has already held one meeting where members had raised certain questions and they were given more time for discussion.

He said there was no pressure on the government or the Prime Minister about FATA reforms and the meeting to which members had referred was held yesterday (Wednesday) wherein FATA members were once again briefed on the matter.

Seven members from FATA had attended the meeting among whom two had insisted to first pass the amendment related to merger of FATA with KPK, he explained.

He further explained that there was need to replace the FCR with certain law for the transition period and execution of development activities with an allocation of Rs 110 billion during the coming years until the process of merger completes.

Therefore, there should be no doubt that the government was delaying this matter through its allies,? he said and reiterated commitment of the government to implement FATA reforms.