PESHAWAR, Sept 9: The local bodies elections would be held for the first time in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) on Oct 27.

This is being done by extending the local bodies ordinance to the tribal areas as part of the government’s proposed wide-ranging reforms programme.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held here on Sunday with the provincial governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah — the administrative head of Fata — in the chair, an official announcement issued after the meeting said.

Apart from establishing local bodies institutions, the Fata reforms programme involves major judicial and administrative reforms to achieve the government’s main objective of integrating the tribal areas with the NWFP, the official sources said.

As a step towards this broader objective, the government has recently set up a separate secretariat — Fata secretariat — dumping the earlier system under which every department of the NWFP government had a separate cell to deal with the Fata affairs.

The schedule for the holding of the local bodies elections would be announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan, the meeting was told.

In line with the devolution of power plan for the tribal areas, elections to the union, tehsil and agency councils would be held.

However, in deviation from the devolution of power plan envisaged for the settled areas of the country, Nazims and Naib Nazims of the agency council and teshil council would be elected directly through adult franchise.

“All the three tiers of the local bodies institutions, including the union, tehsil and agency councils, would be elected directly through adult franchise. The Nazim and Naib Nazim at the tehsil and agency council level would also come through direct elections,” said the sources.

The direct election route is adopted to avoid the possibility of vote purchasing.

As per the devolution of power plan, a copy of which is available with this correspondent, the geographical boundaries of the existing agency (seven in number in Fata), tehsil and sub-tehsil would be maintained in an effort to avoid confrontation with the tribesmen.

The agency council would comprise the area falling under the geographical boundary of the agency concerned. The same rule would be applied to the composition of the tehsil council.

Sub-tehsils in every agency concerned would form the union councils.

To make the plan acceptable to the tribal elders and maliks, 23 per cent seats in all the three tiers of local bodies institutions would be specified for them (the elders and maliks). This arrangement, according to the sources, has been envisaged only for once.

Tribal women have been allocated 10 per cent seats in all the three tiers of the local bodies institutions.

The composition of the sub-tehsil, tehsil and agency councils would be as follows:

Sub-Tehsil Council: 12 General Seats (Directly elected), four seats for maliks/elders (through nomination by the NWFP governor), one seat for women and one Nazim and Naib Nazim (directly elected).

Tehsil Council: There would be 20 general seats to be filled by direct election, five reserved seats for the maliks and elders, two seats for women, one reserved seat for minorities apart from the directly elected Nazim and Naib Nazim. Besides, the Nazims and Naib Nazims of the sub-tehsil (union councils) would also be members of the tehsil council.

Agency Council: Apart from 40 general seats to be filled through direct elections there would be 10 seats reserved for maliks and elders, four women seats, one seat each for minorities/Nazim and Naib Nazim.

According to the official handout, the NWFP governor directed the political agents of all the agencies — who were present at the meeting — to start preparations for the holding of elections in their respective areas in the best possible way.