PTI says Centre not authorised to form panel on KP merged districts

ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar on Monday said the federal government had no powers to form a committee on the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as the federal minister, Amir Muqam, promised to engage all stakeholders, including parliamentarians, on the issue of restoring jirga system in the erstwhile tribal region.

“We did not attend the committee meeting nor will do in the future,” Gohar told reporters in Islamabad.

Demanding immediate dissolution of the committee formed on the subject of reviving jirga system in the erstwhile FATA, he cited the powers of provincial government.

According to Gohar, it is a prerogative of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to legislate or present proposals on merged districts.

He said five of the seven MNAs elected from the region belonged to the PTI, adding that the merged districts were part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the 25th Amendment.

Amid the claims made by the PTI about a “conspiracy” to change the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, the latest disagreement has surfaced about the powers in a post-18th Amendment Pakistan.

However, the critics are of the view that the PTI government has failed to improve governance and maintain law and order in the province badly hit by a rising tide of terrorism.

That’s why both the political and military leadership have repeated stressed the need for strengthening the civil administration in the province which saw the then Imran Khan-led federal government to allow the terrorists resettle in the tribal region.

WHAT IS THE CONTROVERSY

Last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had formed a five-member committee with the stated goals of revival of jirga system and strengthening civil administration in a region which has been ravaged by decades of extremism and terrorism.

The panel is tasked with proposing effective measures to ensure that the local administration was able to meet the challenge of governing the region while keeping in mind the specific ground realities and needs.

Earlier, the tribal elders had requested the prime minister at a jirga held in Peshawar to give the jirga system another chance in the merged districts.

It is Minister for Kashmir Affairs, Gilgit-Baltistan, States and Frontier Regions Amir Muqam who is heading the committee. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi are the other members from the federal cabinet.

At the same time, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi or their representatives are included in the panel.

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Meanwhile, the provincial chief secretary, police chief, former chief secretary Shakil Durrani, former IGP Salahuddin Khan Mehsud and SIFC Secretary Dr Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan are also among its members.

To aimed to integrate the tribal areas into the mainstream of Pakistan by eliminating their special (and often discriminatory) status, the then PML-N government had ensured the passage of 25th Amendment in May 2018.

It covered both the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA).

However, some political forces including the religio-political party JUI-F and the nationalist PkMAP had opposed the move. In fact, they are still demanding its reversal.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE ‘PRESSING ISSUES’

On Monday, Amir Muqam share the goals of the committee which, he said, was formed to address the jirga system and other pressing issues in the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He told a press conference that the panel had been tasked with improving the living conditions of the people and they would consult both current and former parliamentarians on these matters.

The federal minister expressed regret over the opposition’s decision to boycott the committee and emphasised the importance of a unified approach for the development of these areas.