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Thursday March 28, 2024

Fata merger as per Nawaz vision, says Abbasi

By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir
May 25, 2018

ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) has claimed full credit of merging Federally Tribal Administered Areas (Fata) with the province of KP and maintained Thursday that the merger was part of its election manifesto.

Former Prime Minister and lifetime Supreme Leader of the PML-N Nawaz Sharif constituted Fata reforms committee under Sartaj Aziz that articulated comprehensive report about the merger which became the base for the requisite legislation. Shahid Abbasi forgot taking the name of Nawaz Sharif with this reference first in his address in National Assembly and later in his news conference.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi while addressing haphazardly convened news conference in the Prime Minister Office (PMO) in the afternoon said that the merger of Fata with KP had been part of the PML-N’s manifesto, but later the political parties termed it a good step and extended their support for adoption of the bill with clear two-third majority in the National Assembly. The Prime Minister recalled that the Fata Reforms Committee that followed the constitution of an implementation committee comprising the chief minister and governor of KP, army chief and other stakeholders. After threadbare debate, all the stakeholders evolved consensus to replace centuries old tribal laws with the regular laws and merge the area with KP, he added.