LANDI KOTAL: Senator from Khyber tribal district Taj Mohammad Afridi has been elected as chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on State and Frontier Regions (Safron).

Sources in Jamrud, the hometown of Mr Taj Afridi, said that he defeated Haji Momin Afridi, another senator from Khyber, with a majority vote. They said that Hilal Rehman, a senator from Momand tribal district, proposed the name of Taj Afridi for the chairmanship while his opponent was proposed by Senator Ayub Afridi from Bara.

Later speaking to journalists in Jamrud, Senator Taj Afridi said that things changed considerably in the tribal districts after merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and especially after the July 25 general elections. He said that tribal voters elected candidates, who had political affiliations.

The senator said that as a chairman of the Senate panel he would try to put recommendations in accordance with the genuine aspirations of the people of the tribal districts.

“Our utmost priority would be to resolve the problems faced by people of tribal districts and to expedite the process of implementation of the merger plan,” he said.

Interestingly Taj Afridi advocated a separate province for tribal regions prior to passage of 27th Amendment. His elder brother and former MNA Haji Shahji Gul was an ardent supporter of the merger plan.

Mr Gul lost to PTI candidate Noorul Haq Qadri in the July 25 elections with a margin of over 3,000 votes.

Other members of the committee included retired Lt Gen Salahuddin Termizi, Sardar Mohammad Yaqub Khan Nasir, Shamim Afridi, Attaur Rehman, Mohammad Ayub, Haji Momin Khan Afridi and Hilal Rehman.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2018