Government all set to present Fata reform package in NA

The government is all set to present Fata reform package in the National Assembly during the current session but without an immediate merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in an effort to appease its allied political parties, JUI-F and PkMAP, it was learnt reliably. A source privy to the development told Business Recorder that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had assured Fata parliamentarians in a meeting on May 7 that the reforms package will be presented to the National Assembly for approval after the passage of the budget.
"The prime minister wanted to develop a consensus among parliamentary parties on Fata Reforms package, however, he was unable to get support from the JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Mehmood Khan Achakzai on the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," he added. Sources said that the last meeting of the prime minister with parliamentary leaders was held on Thursday 10 May to ally the concerns of JUI-F and PkMAP, but both parties stuck to their stance and demanded that Fata be given the status of a province instead of merging it with KP.
The reform package includes abolishment of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), allocation of seats in KP provincial assembly (though gradually), introducing local government system, economic assistance package and other reforms that have already been approved by the federal cabinet and are expected to be implemented on priority basis. Towards the gradual merger of Fata with KP, they said that judicial complexes will be established in Fata in phases wherein the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and Peshawar High Court will be extended.
On April 17, 2018, President Mamnoon Hussain signed into law the Supreme Court and Peshawar High Court (Extension of Jurisdiction to Federally Administered Tribal Areas) Bill, 2018 following the passage of the bill by the two houses of the parliament despite opposition from JUI-F and PkMAP.
The merger of Fata with KP has been a longstanding demand of tribal people who wanted to be rid of FCR and for regular laws to be extended to their areas because of misuse of FCR by the local political administration. The PML-N sources told Business Recorder that efforts are still underway to address reservations of Maulana Fazlur Rehman of JUI-F and Mehmood Khan Achakzai.
"We are hopeful the party leadership will address the concerns of JUL-F and PkMAP as the government does not want next government of any other party to take the credit of implementation of the Fata reforms, a longstanding demand of the people of tribal areas for alleviating their sufferings and bringing them into the mainstream", said a senior PML-N leader.