KHAR: Most participants of a session with Fata parliamentarians here on Friday favoured the proposed merger of the tribal region with KP and appreciated the Fata Research Centre for exploring public opinion regarding the region’s reforms.

The event titled the ‘future of governance reforms in tribal areas’ was attended by the representatives of all major political parties of KP and Fata, including Afrasiab Khattak of ANP, Farhatullah Babar of PPP, Shah Jee Gul Afridi, Sajid Turi, Mukhtar Bacha of NP, Sahibzada Haroon Rasheed of JI, Mohammad Jamaluddin of JUI-F, Akhunzada Chattan of PPP, Sheryar Afridi and Salman Afridi of PTI and Ajmal Wazir of PML-Q, and representatives of research institutes.

All participants except Jamaluddin of JUI-F welcomed the merger of Fata with KP.

Farhatullah Babar appreciated the idea of Fata-KP merger declaring it the most feasible option under the current circumstances.

He however criticised various aspects of the report of the prime minister’s commission on Fata mainstreaming, including the provision of Riwaj Act and distribution of development funds allocated for Fata through a bureaucratic office.

Afrasiab Khattak favored the merger of Fata with KP along geographic and ethnic lines. He however said the merger should be happen through parliament.

“A census should be conducted prior to the Fata-KP merger in order to ensure the proper representation of Fata in the provincial assembly. There should be a special share in the provincial cabinet for Fata for at least 20 years to please tribesmen,” he said.

The ANP leader said an fully-empowered local government system for better governance should introduced in Fata.

Shah Jee Gul Afridi said Fata parliamentarians were going to present a resolution on Fata’s merger with KP in the National Assembly on Nov 21.

He said the chief executive proposed to be appointed to Fata should be an elected representative instead of a civil servant.

Mr. Afridi demanded 10 percent share in the NFC Award for Fata.

While favoring the Fata-KP merger, Sheryar Afridi said the German and Hong Kong unifications highlighted the importance of that option. He called for better peace and development efforts in the tribal region.

The PTI leader said his party’s government in KP welcomed the idea of Fata’s merger with the province.

However, Jamaluddin of JUI-opposed the proposed merger and demanded a separate province for Fata.

While referring to Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, he said the founder of the nation had called for giving importance to the opinion of Fata people on the future of their region.

The JUI-F leader said a political representative should be the chief executive of Fata instead of a bureaucrat. “The people of Fata are the most patriotic people in the country,” he said.

Other participants also favoured the merger of Fata with KP and urged the government to implement government reforms for the region on urgent basis. They appreciated the FRC for working on governance reforms in Fata.

FRC is a non-profit research based organisation that draws leading experts from their relevant fields to join their expertise in promoting the cause of peace through advocacy, capacity building and objective research on the issues confronting Pakistan and Afghanistan, with a special focus on Fata.

Published in Dawn November 19th, 2016