PkMAP demands withdrawal of Mines and Minerals Bill

PESHAWAR: The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has rejected the proposed Mines and Minerals Bill 2025, declaring it a legal instrument for federal resource colonization disguised under the term “strategic minerals.”

In an official statement, Dr Mohammad Ali, PkMAP’s provincial president, warned that this bill represented a direct assault on provincial autonomy, constitutional federalism, and the economic rights of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“This is not about empowering KP, it is a calculated scheme to dispossess its people. Hidden behind investor-friendly jargon is a clear attempt to hand over the province’s natural wealth to unelected federal forces,” Dr Muhammad Ali said.

Among the bill’s most alarming features is the power granted to the Federal Mineral Wing to unilaterally declare any mineral as “strategic,” giving the federal government complete control over its extraction, pricing, and management-bypassing the provincial assembly entirely.

The PkMAP leader said the bill embeds non-elected federal officials in key decision-making bodies like the Mineral Investment Facilitation Authority, allowing them to dictate KP’s mining contracts, tax regimes, and licensing policies without input from the province’s elected representatives.

He said the most concerning was the role of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SFIC), a non-elected and allegedly unconstitutional body with no parliamentary oversight.Dr Muhammad Ali SFIC had repeatedly bypassed democratic procedures across the country, and its involvement in KP’s resource governance signals a dangerous precedent of authoritarian economic control.

He said the party condemned provisions requiring all mineral agreements to follow federal templates, opening the door for opaque deals with military-linked entities and foreign investors.

Furthermore, the PkMAP leader said a centralized mining cadastre system under federal control strips the province of autonomy in overseeing its own operations, while legal immunity clauses shield federal actors from scrutiny-even in cases involving corruption or environmental harm.

Dr Muhammad Ali said the bill allowed joint ventures with so-called “government-owned companies,” effectively prioritizing enterprises like FWO and NLC while relegating KP to a subordinate position in its own resource economy.

He said the PkMAP viewed these measures as part of a broader federal agenda to usurp control over provincial resources and weaken constitutional federalism.“The party placed this bill within a historical pattern of resource usurpation and unconstitutional overreach, including the controversial 1991 Indus Waters Accord, the forced merger of Fata, taxation impositions in Pata, the exclusion of tobacco from agricultural crop status, and the imposition of federal agricultural taxes. All these actions reflect a consistent federal strategy of undermining provincial autonomy,” said Dr Muhammad Ali

He said PkMAP applauded the strong reaction from the public, political parties, and civil society against the bill and called for the immediate withdrawal of the bill.Dr Muhammad Ali demanded a transparent and inclusive redrafting process that centered the role of provincial stakeholders and the KP Assembly.