PPP lawmaker calls for legislation after repeal of FCR

PESHAWAR: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Ahmad Kundi has said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is facing the biggest challenge after the merger of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with the province and it should concentrate on legislation following the repeal of the controversial Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).

“Presently, there is no system after the repeal of the FCR. The government should take into confidence all the stakeholders to fill the vacuum and overcome the prevailing unrest,” he told The News on Friday.

Ahmad Kundi, who is also the PPP president for Dera Ismail Khan division observed that the tribal districts lacked basic amenities of life but the government was spending billions of rupees on unnecessary development projects like BRT.

Terming the BRT as “Burden Raising Transport”, he said the rulers should have spent this money on vital projects like Chashma Lift Canal that could change the lot of the people by enabling cultivation of land in the southern districts of the province.

He said the government of Punjab was giving subsidies worth billions of rupees to Lahore, Islamabad and Multan metro bus system annually and the KP government would not be able to run the much criticised BRT in Peshawar without giving subsidies.

He argued that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government could generate huge amount of revenue by irrigating barren land in southern KP.

The young Ahmad Kundi, who had done Civil Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, started his political career from the union council level. He later remained opposition leader in the Tehsil Council, Dera Ismail Khan. In the July 2018 general election, he was elected MPA from PK-96 Dera Ismail Khan by obtaining 18,416 votes. The runner-up, independent candidate Samiullah, polled 16,692 votes. There were 14 other losing candidates, including MMA’s Abdul Haleem Qasuria and PTI’s Tariq Rahim Kundi.

Ahmad Kundi is the brother of former National Assembly deputy speaker Faisal Karim Kundi and son of Fazal Karim Kundi. He is grandson of Justice (R) Faizullah Kundi, who remained a federal minister in the cabinet of late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

The lawmaker complained that the people of his constituency lacked clean drinking water, electricity and access to roads. He said he had been raising these problems on the floor of the House and urging the government to initiate public welfare projects instead of chanting hollow slogans.

Ahmad Kundi recalled that the Dera Ismail Khan Airport which was operational from 2008 to 2013 had closed down and this had caused problems for passengers as well as donors. “Instead of announcing a special package for the militancy-affected areas and for the heirs of the martyrs, the rulers were trying to deceive the nation by raising attractive slogans,” he said.

The PPP lawmaker said he will continue reminding Imran Khan about his tall promises to generate one million jobs and build five million houses and 350 mini hydel dams.

He observed that people were demanding basic human rights and the situation could take an ugly turn if the rulers failed to fulfil their responsibilities.

Without naming anyone, he said majority of the youth had gathered under a banner and were cursing the state institutions because they were denied basic rights.

“No doubt the country, the province and PPP are passing through a difficult phase of history but I am confident that my party’s mature leadership could pull the country out of the dismal situation,” he said.

He paid tributes to his party leadership for the passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment and resolving the National Finance Commission Award issue.