PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa has proposed the Federally Adminis­tered Tribal Areas (Fata) merger with the northwestern province by 2018 and holding of the local government elections under the KP Local Government Act, 2013, saying any delay could derail the entire reform and integration process beyond redemption, government officials say.

Officials familiar with discussions on the proposed merger say that the KP chief minister during a formal meeting with the Fata Reforms Committee held in Peshawar earlier this month did not agree with the five-year merger plan.

KP’s view was that the merger could take place sooner rather than later and that the five-year plan proposed by the Committee led by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz would push the whole process into an indefinite and uncertain future.

Everybody wants merger and wants it quick, says CM Khattak

Mr Aziz had come to Governor House in Peshawar on Sept 7, along with his team that included National Security Adviser retired Lt Gen Nasser Khan Janjua and Secretary State and Frontier Regions Shehzad Arbab. He briefed KP Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, CM Khattak and senior ministers Sikandar Sherpao and Inayatullah on the proposed reforms.

In an 80-page document, the Fata Reforms Committee has proposed a set of “parallel and concurrent” political, administrative, judicial and security reforms as well as a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation programme to prepare Fata for a ‘five-year transition period’ for merger with KP.

The provincial government, however, believes that the merger could and should take place by 2018 to allow its people to contest elections and send their representatives to the KP Assembly.

Smooth, uniform transition

The province has also proposed that instead of holding the local bodies’ elections under a different system, the Committee should look into adopting the KP’s Local Government Act, 2013 to ensure Fata’s smooth and uniform transition and merger with KP.

“I think both suggestions were valid and hold water,” said a senior government official, who was present in the meeting. He said the suggestions would now form part of the document to be presented to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after its recommendations were reviewed by parliament.

“My gut feeling is that we should be able to wrap up the entire discussion and submit a summary to Prime Minister Sharif by the end of October,” he said. “It shouldn’t take longer than that.”

Mr Khattak confirmed to Dawn the suggestions he had put forward to the Committee. The CM said he had told them that their five-year-long plan would push the entire merger process into an uncertain future.

“If Fata misses the opportunity to send its representatives to the KP Assembly in 2018, the next opportunity would come in 2023. Who knows what happens until then,” he remarked. “What we say is pragmatic and practical,” he said. “I don’t see any problems,” he asserted.

“What we can do is turn the seven tribal agencies into seven or eight districts,” he suggested. “Our officers are already serving there. Administrative merger would not be an issue at all.”

Mr Khattak was critical of the hybrid judicial system proposed for Fata. He said he had asked the Committee to fully mainstream Fata.

“What is this Riwaj Act? If the recommendation is to merge Fata with KP, why introduce a different legal system?” he asked. “Why are you creating another Pata (Provincially Administered Tribal Areas), another Malakand? Let there be one province, one government and one system,” he argued.

The chief minister said that he had consulted all the political parties in KP before putting his suggestions before the Committee. “There is a consensus in KP,” he claimed. “Everybody wants merger and wants it quick,” he said. “This is a historic opportunity. Prime Minister Sharif should seize this opportunity and make history.”

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2016