29 May 2004	Saturday	09 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

PESHAWAR, May 28: A seven-member committee working to devise a representative system for the Federally Administered Tribal Area (Fata), is considering various plans for selection of members for the proposed agency councils in the seven tribal regions, sources said.

The committee, comprising retired bureaucrats, professionals and former parliamentarians from Fata will work out criterion for the selection of members for the proposed agency councils. Former chief secretary Sang-i-Marjan Mahsud is heading the committee.

After Oct 12, 1999 the government had announced that a local government system would be introduced in the country including Fata. Under the new system the government was to conduct local bodies elections in the tribal areas to bring this remote part of the country to the main streamline.

The plan, however, could not be extended to the tribal area so far due to the law and order situation, particularly the operation against militants and their tribal protectors in the Waziristan region, according to the officials.

Officials say that before extending the devolution plan the government was bringing administrative reforms in the tribal area and the local bodies elections would be held at an appropriate time.

They add that the blueprint of the local government system for tribal areas had been sent to the federal ministry of SAFRON. Till the execution of the new system the government has decided to revive the 1965's Basic Democracy system, introduced by Ayub Khan.

Initially, each tribal region had a separate 40-member council and political agent used to nominate members of tribal councils. The proposed councils will function as a watchdog till the local governments are established.

Every council will have maliks, notables and professionals of the area as its members. These councils will look after development activities, funds utilization in their respective areas and also help the local administration in maintaining law and order situation.

The agency's political agent will head the council. Officials in the Fata secretariat said that members of the committee had been divided over the selection criteria of members for the proposed agency councils.

The sources said that the retired government servants, who are on the committee, wanted the political agent or respective District Coordination Officers to nominate all members of the councils, while others are opposed to the sweeping powers of the political administration in the selection process.

They suggested that respective tribes should make nomination of council members rather than by the political agent. According to an official, the Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah had suggested that 75 per cent of the total council members should be nominated by the respective tribe and the remaining 25 per cent should come through the nominations by the political agent.

The governor directed the committee to visit the seven tribal agencies and seek opinion of the tribesmen about the revival and role of the agency councils. Other members of the committee are Hidayatullah Mohmand, Abdul Qayyum Afridi, Nawabzada Shahabuddin, Syed Yousaf Hussain, Malik Mohammad Afzal and Aftab Akbar Durrani, additional secretary of the governor's Fata secretariat.