ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday assembled for a meeting to discuss the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) merger, as well as, ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s controversial statement.
Local news channels report that the PTI Chairman Imran Khan will preside over the meeting in which lawmakers from the Senate and National Assembly will take part.
During the meeting, the extension of Supreme Court (SC) and Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) jurisdiction to tribal areas would be deliberated on. The matter has already been in the spotlight for quite some time now.
“Recently, the federal government decided to approve a constitutional amendment that would serve as a means for the merger,” reported a local news channel.
Earlier, the National Assembly’s (NA) Standing Committee for Law and Justice was expected to approve the 30th Amendment of the Constitution before the completion of the lower house’s tenure but the matter has been on hold as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman and Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) head Mahmood Khan Achakzai have not been able to come to an outcome of their desire as yet.
Moving on from the merger, contemplation on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo’s controversial statement regarding Mumbai attacks will be on the agenda of the meeting.
The statements by Nawaz were soon followed by Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s news conference, during which he emphasised that the former premier’s statements had been ripped out of context by the media.