ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) parliamentary party on Thursday demanded a merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, through a constitutional amendment, without delay.

The participants of the meeting, chaired by PTI chief Imran Khan, were of the view that Fata reforms and merger of Fata with KP should be carried out as soon as possible as both demands are included in the PTI’s manifesto.

The Fata merger: Towards a brave new world

A spokesperson for the PTI said that the federal government had delayed the merger of Fata with KP to oblige its coalition partners.

“We had suggested in 2016 that the only viable option was to merge Fata with KP. If our suggestion had been implemented at that time, Pakistan would have been more stable today. However, currently, Fata has been facing huge security challenges,” he said.

MNAs Sahibzada Nazeer Sultan and Ghulam Bibi Bharwana quit PML-N and join PTI

He alleged that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Fazlur Rahman of the Jamiat Ulema-i- Islam-F, and Mehmood Khan Achakzai of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party were responsible for a huge loss to the Pashtun nation. He said there was unrest among tribal people because of a delay in the merger.

“The PTI will demand a merger of Fata with KP during the proposed constitutional amendment because only that is how the people of Fata will be administratively and economically empowered,” he stressed.

The spokesperson said that the PTI’s parliamentary party had unanimously demanded that the government must not further delay the merger because it would increase problems in Fata.

Several political personalities, including two members of the National Assembly from Punjab, on Thursday left the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to join PTI. MNAs Sahibzada Muhammad Nazeer Sultan and Ghulam Bibi Bharwana visited Banigala and met the PTI chief. PTI’s Jahangir Khan Tareen was also present at the occasion. Former MPAs Maher Muhammad Aslam Bharwana, Ghulam Ahmad Khan Ghadi, Sheikh Muhammad Yaqoob and Maher Sultan Sikandar also announced their decision to join the PTI. Other prominent politicians who announced their decision to join the PTI are retired Colonel Ghulam Abbas Qureshi, Mian Muzaffar Mehmood, Rana Shahbaz Ahmed Khan and Muhammad Asif Khatia. These politicians assured support for the PTI’s leadership and expressed confidence in the party’s manifesto.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2018