ISLAMABAD: After remaining at loggerhead for months, the treasury and the opposition members are set to jointly vote for the 26th Constitution Amendment Bill seeking an increase in the number of seats for the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in the National Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly when the lower house of parliament will go into session after a two-day recess on Monday (today).

Read: PTI govt, opposition in rare unison over Fata bill

If all goes well and the parties manage to ensure the presence of the required two-thirds members (228 in the 342-member NA) in the house, then it will be the first Constitution amendment which will be approved by the present assembly that came into existence in August after the general elections in July last year.

The bill had been introduced by an independent lawmaker from the country’s tribal areas Mohsin Dawar, seeking to increase the number of seats of the former Fata from six to 12 in the National Assembly and from 16 to 24 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. In the KP Assembly, there will be four reserved seats for women and one for minorities, thus making the total number of seats from erstwhile tribal areas to 31.

The coalition government led by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) wanted to get the bill passed on Thursday soon after the presentation of the report on the bill by the chairman of the house committee on law and justice Riaz Fatiana, but it could not succeed in its plan after the opposition refused to vote for it without having a thorough debate on the issue in the house.

26th Constitution Amendment Bill seeks increase in Fata seats in National and KP Assemblies

Moreover, the opposition also objected to the recommendations of the law and justice committee report which had suggested an increase of three seats, instead of six, in the National Assembly and four, instead of eight, in the KP Assembly. Mr Dawar had agreed on the committee’s proposal after seeing opposition to the bill by the members of the ruling coalition who were of the view that he was demanding too much.

However, sources said when the present members of the assembly from the tribal areas met the leadership of the opposition parties to seek their cooperation on the bill, they were told to stick to their original bill seeking to almost double their seats in the NA and the provincial assembly. When these members told the ruling party about the opposition’s offer, the ruling PTI also agreed to the proposal for the sake of consensus.

When contacted, Mr Dawar confirmed that the members of the assembly would vote for the original bill and not the one presented by the committee. He said since the committee’s bill had already been presented before the house, he would have to move amendments to the bill to get it restored to the original one.

Mr Dawar expressed the hope that the bill would sail through smoothly in the National Assembly as all the parties had assured him that they would support the bill during Monday’s sitting.

Prime Minister Imran Khan is also expected to attend Monday’s sitting as his presence will ensure the maximum attendance on the treasury benches.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has already announced schedule for the election on 16 seats of the erstwhile Fata for the KP Assembly.

The former Fata areas will get the representation in the provincial assembly for the first time after their merger with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province through the 25th Constitutional Amendment Bill on May 31, 2018, which was the last day of the previous government of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Sense of deprivation

Speaking in the National Assembly on Friday, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak had stated that the government wanted to end a sense of deprivation prevailing among the people of erstwhile Fata by providing them basic facilities of health, education, banks and courts. He said some Rs100 billion would be spent on erstwhile Fata each year for 10 years.

“Of Rs100 billion, a sum of Rs30 billion will be given to the elected representatives under local government system so that they could spend funds at village level,” he added.

The defence minister said people of the erstwhile Fata who had protected the country’s borders in the past would be able to take part in Pakistan’s growth as well after Fata’s merger. He said Fata had 12 seats in the National Assembly and no seat in the provincial assembly of KP before the merger.

He expressed the hope that treasury and opposition members would pass the bill with a two-thirds majority on Monday, giving a clear message to the people of tribal districts that nobody would be allowed to deprive them of their due rights.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) also recently issued a schedule for polling in Fata on KP Assembly seats on July 2. By the end of May, the ECP will issue election symbols to candidates.

Mr Dawar said under the Constitution, the elections in erstwhile Fata areas for the provincial assembly seats were to be held by July 25 this year. However, he said that he would also be moving an amendment seeking a six-month extension in the deadline for holding of the elections.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2019