Participants of the seminar were unequivocal in their demand to implement 25th constitutional amendment in its true letter and spirit. The 25th constitutional amendment has merged seven tribal districts and six Frontier Regions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Holding provincial assembly elections in the newly merged districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly called FATA), establishing judicial setup, holding local government elections, and new NFC award for allocation more resources to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in the new National Finance Commission (NFC) award were the main recommendations of the seminar titled 'Implementation of 25th Constitutional Amendment: Legal and Institutional Setup in Newly Merged Districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Former FATA)' organized by Centre for Governance and Public Accountability (CGPA).
Professor Dr Sarfraz Khan, Director Area Study Centre of Peshawar University termed the 25th Constitutional Amendment welcoming but he feared that if social service delivery and justice system were not improved in the post 25th constitutional amendment era, the people of the tribal districts may resolve to protests as seen in the recent past.
He also emphasized that the federal government should give all pending amount in hydro royalty and the promised Rs 100 billion for development in FATA. Advocate Zahir Shah Safi demanded immediate elections for the provincial assembly seats in the newly merged districts. He also termed FATA Interim Governance Regulations 2018 as FCR-2.
Iftikhar Firdous, Bureau Chief the Express Tribune, lamented lack of transparency in the implementation process. He also termed the situation on ground unchanged as the implementation process had yet to be started. He anticipated that new government would have to face huge challenge in extending service delivery and implementation of provincial laws in newly merged districts owing to meagre financial resources.
Dr Ashraf Ali demanded holding of the provincial assembly and local government elections at the earliest. Advocate Ijaz Mohmand, Ex President FATA Lawyers Forum, claimed that Peshawar High Court is mostly not entertaining cases related to newly merged districts.
Hanif Orakzai, Chief Information Commissioner KP, shared his plan to extend KP RTI law to the Malakand division (former PATA) first as these areas are now under the direct jurisdiction of the KP Assembly. Muhammad Anwar, Executive Director CGPA, shared the required institutional setup in the post 25th constitutional amendment scenario.
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