31st Amendment In Constitution Merges FATA And PATA With KP
31st Amendment In Constitution Merges FATA And PATA With KP: The National Assembly (NA) on Thursday has passed the 31st Amendment in the Constitution with two-thirds majority for merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) with the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) province.
The Constitution (Thirty First Amendment) Bill, 2018 got 229 votes bringing an end to special powers of the President, governor and FCR.
As per requirements of Article 239 of the Constitution, the amendment bill would require a two-thirds majority support of the KP Assembly after it is passed by the Senate with the same majority.
The KP assembly is going to complete its term on May 28.
The constitutional amendment envisages amendments in Article 246 and repeals Article 247 which placed the tribal areas under the command and control of the President. The Clause 4 of Article 239 of the Constitution says ‘a bill to amend the Constitution which would have the effect of altering the limits of a province shall not be presented to the President for assent unless passed by the provincial assembly of that province by the votes of not less than two thirds of its total membership’.
PTI Chairman, Imran Khan, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Syed Khursheed Shah and shook hands in a pleasant mood. The parliamentary leaders of JUI-F and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Maulana Fazalur Rehman and Mehmood Khan Achakzai who have been opposing the merger of Fata and Pata with the KP province did not turn up.
NA seats will be reduced from 342 to 336
As per Clause 3 of the bill which will envisage amendment in Article 51 of the Constitution, the number of NA seats will be reduced from 342 to 336. As many as 12 seats will stand abolished with the merger of the tribal areas with the province. There will be an increase of six NA seats for the KP province from 39 to 45. However, MNAs from Fata elected in 2018 general elections shall continue till the dissolution of the NA. According to an amendment in Article 59 of the Constitution, the number of Senate seats will be reduced from 104 to 96 as eight existing seats for Fata will be abolished. However, the existing members of the Senate from Fata shall continue till the expiry of their respective terms.
FATA Reforms Package
Prime Minister said efforts for Fata reforms had been continuing for the last four years. He said the committee under the supervision of Sartaj Aziz worked for two and a half years to formulate the Fata reforms package.
Speaking on the bill, Prime Minister Abbasi said the passage of the historic bill will have far-reaching effects for the whole country. He said the House today demonstrated national consensus on an important issue and expressed the confidence that other matters faced by the country will be addressed with the same spirit. He thanked the opposition benches for extending support to the passage of the constitution amendment.
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