- GB gets observer status in CCI, NEC, ECNEC
- There is no mention of repealing of the council in a press release of meeting issued by PM’s House
ISLAMABAD: In a bid to introduce reforms in the region, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday directed the authorities concerned to abolish the Gilgit-Baltistan Council along with Azad Jammu Kashmir Council, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Chairing a meeting of Sartaj Aziz-led GB’s reforms committee, the PM directed the government to repeal the GB Empowerment and Self Governance Order 2009 within next seven days, while devolving some subjects of the council to the legislative assembly of GB.
A source, privy to the details of the meeting, said that the law ministry will prepare a summary in this regard and after an issuance of a new presidential order, the council will cease to exist.
Some subjects, including pest and diseases, education planning, tourism and forests will be devolved to the legislative assembly, he added.
The reforms committee, which was formed by then prime minister Nawaz Sharif under the chairmanship of Sartaj Aziz in 2015, could not succeed in proposing major reforms in the area as the federal government rejected the suggestion of giving representation to GB in the National Assembly and Senate.
Despite a period of three years and a repeated meeting with the stakeholders, the council could not introduce reforms due to an apparent opposition on part of the AJK government.
“The decision of rolling back entire setup of the council was quite surprising as the same was not proposed by the committee,” said the official.
The chief minister of GB, Hafeezur Rehman, refused the PM’s offer to accept an AJK-like government and preferred to stick to his provisional provincial set up.
A source claimed that the GB chief minister might have rejected the offer due to the fear of supporting vote that he may not get in case of contesting for the premiership. Hafeez is already facing the threat of a no-confidence motion in the GB’s assembly.
Ministry of Kashmir Affairs secretary and GB council joint secretary had objected to the proposition of disbanding the council, saying that since the setup existed under presidential order, the government couldn’t repeal it.
However, Kashmir Affairs and GB Minister Chaudhry Barjees Tahir, Hafeezur Rehman and some others favoured the end of the council.
Subsequently, the prime minister ordered the concerned authorities to rollback the council within next seven days. However, no decision has been made about 124 employees of the council and 650 employees of its attached departments in Islamabad.
The meeting, which was the final one of the reforms committee, has also decided to the give representation to GB as an observer in the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), National Economic Council (NEC), Indus River System Authority (IRSA), Council of Common Interests and NF.
Interestingly, the elected members of the council, who mostly belong to the ruling party PML-N, were largely unhappy over the decision as they would lose salaries, perks and privileges after the development. Employees of the council were also worried about their fate after the decision.
According to sources, the prime minister, at the request of the AJK government had already decided to rollback AJK Council a couple of days ago. “Since the government had decided to end the AJK council, it decided to rollback the GB council as well,” said the sources.
A GB lawmaker told Pakistan Today that the government has pushed the region back to 2008 after repealing the order introduced by the PPP-led government in 2009.
It may be noted that Gilgit-Baltistan Council is an independent legislative body headed by the prime minister of Pakistan and was established in May 2010 under Article 33 of GB (Empowerment and Self Governance) Order, 2010. The council has the mandate to legislate in 52 subjects.
Interestingly, the press statement issued by PM House regarding the meeting did not mention anything regarding the entire proceeding of the meeting which revolved around the reforms and decision pertaining to the council.
PMLN will lose heavy vote bank by this decision. This decision of PM is affecting the fate of 400 employees of AJK council and 124 employees of GB council as well as their families forcing them down to unemployment.
Council is a bridge between Pakistan and kashmir and has the status of senat of Kashmir. This decision will not only effect the employee of council, it is too bade for Pakistan and kashmir cose. India will be very happy on this decision because it Is a starting point of fight within two brothers. Can PML N obilish Senate of Pakistan if he disagree any decision of national assembly.
This decision should be implemented as soon as possible, this so-called Kashmir only take three minutes to prepare the laws for Kashmiries, The real root cause of corruption is the council, powers should be shifted to the representative to the legislative assembly.
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