LAHORE: All decisions regarding merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Area (Fata) must be implemented, including the three per cent share of the region in the National Finance Commission (NFC), the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) demanded here on Saturday in a statement.

It suggested that Prime Minister Imran Khan should take personal interest in the Fata affairs, as more power centres would complicate the situation there.

The party said the people of Fata rendered huge sacrifices for Pakistan in the aftermath of Afghan war and the region suffered heavily. It stressed the need for doing all what was required to ensure peace, and more importantly, development in the region.

PAT secretary general Khurram Nawaz Gandapur said durable peace in Pakistan was linked with peace in Fata.

He said that instead of forming one committee after another, the PTI government should take every measure to quickly resolve all the issues related to the area because after American announcement of withdrawal from Afghanistan, the region would need special attention. There was a need to watch the situation of the region seriously as Pakistan could not afford any further negligence with regard to its western borders, he added.

Later, talking to different delegations, Mr Gandapur said every arrest of a PML-N ex-minister was leading to unearthing of massive corruption, running into billions of rupees. Now there was a need to move beyond mere references, which had already been filed in their dozens, and make recoveries, he added.

He said it was a good omen that the PTI government, especially Prime Minister Imran Khan, was in no mood to sign any NRO or even relax the accountability process. The entire effort should now shift to recovery of the “looted money”, he suggested.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2019