ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) to merge Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
In his application, Imran Khan said that the PTI-led provincial government was willing to make FATA a part of it. “The KP assembly has already passed a resolution for the union of FATA and President Mamnoon Hussain has also announced the Fata Reforms Package,” he added in the petition.
“The Constitution of Pakistan in its preamble dictates to observe the principles of democracy, freedom, equality and social justice and also all rights of territories of the federation including the areas of Fata,” said the PTI petition.
The petition continued, “The government of KP fulfilled its constitutional requirement and consented to forthwith include areas of FATA into the province of KP.” “For this purpose,” it added, “all arrangements have been made and decisions are taken by the KP government, including the resolution number 848 adopted by the provincial assembly.”
The federal government, in September 2017, managed to develop a consensus on the major points of reforms in the FATA as lawmakers from the tribal regions agreed to the merger with KP. The consensus was made during a meeting in Islamabad chaired by Minister for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Lieutenant General (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch and attended by most of FATA lawmakers as well as State Minister Ghalib Khan Wazir.
