NA speaker says bill to increase parliamentary seats for ex-FATA areas in offing

ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser Wednesday said that they would present a bill to increase the number of parliamentary seats for erstwhile FATA areas besides also raising their share in the National Finance Commission (NFC), ARY NEWS reported.

Heading a meeting regarding the ex-FATA areas, the speaker said that a bill would be tabled for an increase in parliamentary seats for ex-FATA areas and they would need support from all political parties in this regard.

“All parties should extend their cooperation for development in these areas,” Asad Qaiser said while suggesting to hold a Grand National Convention in this regard.

The participants of the meeting also agreed to raise share for the erstwhile FATA areas in the NFC to three percent.

In May 2018, the Senate approved the Constitution Amendment Bill, 2018 with a majority vote for the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Seventy-one members of the upper house of Parliament voted in favour of the bill while five against it during a session presided over by Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. Five senators who opposed the bill belonged to Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP).

A crucial session of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was later held to pass a bill for the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with the province despite strong protest by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F).

KP Law Minister Imtiaz Qureshi tabled the bill before the House which was passed by a two-thirds majority. The bill was passed with eighty-seven votes in favour and six against.