ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday felicitated the nation over the unanimous passage of a bill in the National Assembly (NA) to extend the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the Peshawar High Court to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
In a message, he said that extending the jurisdiction of the superior courts to FATA would be the first step in connection with reforms charted out for the tribal areas. The passage of the bill by the National Assembly was a historic measure for tribesmen and it could also help repeal the decades-old Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), a PM office media wing press release quoted the prime minister as saying.
Congratulating the residents of FATA, the prime minister observed that it was a good omen for the progress of the tribal areas that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government had secured their rights, otherwise denied to them since the last 70 years.
The passage of the bill would also enable the tribesmen to enter into the national mainstream and make efforts towards further strengthening Pakistan, he added.