The government's attempt to pass Fata Reforms bill from National Assembly sans its merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is being viewed as an exercise in futility due to lack of required two thirds majority for the constitutional amendment following opposition by Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Both PTI and PPP have made it clear that they would not support any constitutional amendment that does not include merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Parliamentary sources told Business Recorder that the government bill - the Constitution (Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2017 - will be tabled in National Assembly on Wednesday after taking input from all political parties. This prompted Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq to convene a meeting on Saturday to respond to the reservations of the parliamentary members and request them to support the bill.
Sources said that apart from Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), representatives of other political parties, especially those in opposition attended the meeting and conveyed to the government that they would not support any legislation that excludes merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As the Speaker was unable to give any assurance to the opposition parties on this issue, another meeting will be held on Monday and all political parties were invited to attend it for more deliberations on the matter.
The government in recent weeks has been facing difficulties in maintaining a quorum and managing a two-third majority required for a constitutional amendment seems impossible, said many opposition parliamentarians. In the 342-member National Assembly, the PML-N with a total of 182 members in the House requires a total of 228 members - a two-thirds majority - for passage of the constitutional amendment for Fata reforms bill. Without the support of the opposition political parties such as PPP [46 seats] and PTI [32], the government will not be able to pass the bill.
Talking to Business Recorder Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab said that the Prime Minister after his return from Turkey will hold a meeting with opposition leader Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah to seek support for the bill. "It's a constitutional amendment bill which requires two-thirds majority and we understand that without the support of the opposition we don't have the required numbers", he acknowledged.
Sources familiar with discussions on the bill said that a gradual merger of the Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be part of the government proposed bill. They said that Frontier Crimes Regulation (FRC) would be abolished and an interim governance regulation has been proposed to be applicable in the tribal areas till completion of extension of the regular laws.
The interim rules will be applied in Fata until it is completely merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within a timeframe of five years, the sources added.
They further said that under the Constitution (Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, it has been proposed that local government elections in Fata will be held in October while the people of Fata would also be given the chance in the upcoming general elections to send their representatives to the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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