ISLAMABAD: The opposition parties continued the boycott of the proceedings of the National Assembly for the fourth consecutive day as they vowed to continue their struggle till the Fata people got their due rights.
However, the opposition parties on Thursday failed in their attempt to get the House adjourned due to lack of quorum. To the embarrassment of Fata parliamentarian Shah G Gul Afridi, the House was found in order when he pointed out lack of quorum following the opposition members’ walkout of proceedings against the Fata Reforms Bill missing from the agenda of the day.
The House, however, saw some rumpus during the speeches of Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who has been opposing merger of Fata with KP province and Ali Muhammad Khan of PTI who was also snubbed by the deputy speaker for using aggressive language.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai from Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party suggested creation of a supreme council to address the issues relating to the tribal areas. He said it was his right to oppose or support the proposed Fata reforms and merger of Fata with the KP province. “It is being said that I am opposing the Fata reforms bill. It is my democratic right,” he said.
Achakzai said that Fata did not fall within the domain of parliament, saying that the President of Pakistan could make an end to the Frontier Crimes Regulations. “If you want to end the FCR, this can be done by the President of Pakistan,” he maintained.
He informed that a big delegation from Fata also met the army chief and told him that no decision about their fate should be taken without the will of the tribal people. “The people fromFata should have a say in any decision to be made for them,” he said.
He observed that an acceptable and practicable solution for Fata areas should be given, saying that it could have been much better had Fata areas given their own governor. He also referred to the Government of India Act 1935 according to which Fata was declared an independent area. He also complained about the attitude of Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad whose seat in the National Assembly hall is located next to him. “My neighbour talks about me but we both do not speak to each other,” he said.
In response to hooting and shouting from the opposition members during his speech, Achakzai said he would not respond but abusive language should not be used. Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah strongly reacted to speech of Achakzai saying that they were bound to follow the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan and not the British rule’s Act of 1935. “We only follow the 1973 Constitution and not any theory of Afghanistan or India,” he maintained. He said that parliament enjoyed the mandate of the people of Pakistan and it would never accept any law of aliens or white people.
Khrusheed Shah said 95 percent people of Fata wanted their merger with the KP province saying the opposition parties would not participate in proceedings of the House till the tribal population was given its rights. “We want to give the people of Fata their rights by bringing them into the national mainstream,” he said maintaining that parliament could not be used as a rubber stamp.
Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi warned the PTI member Ali Muhammad Khan to behave in parliament. “You should take care of parliamentary traditions and its sanctity,” Abbasi asked Ali Khan who was speaking in loud voice without being given the floor. Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao called upon the government not to delay the issue relating to Fata reforms as the problem was not in the sight after a long time. However, he said every parliamentarian had the right to express his views.
He said it would be a credit for the federal government if it resolved the issue at the earliest to give rights to Fata people, majority of whom wanted merger of tribal areas with the KP province. “The government should not fizzle out this golden opportunity of bringing the Fata people into the national mainstream,” he said.
Talking to newsmen outside parliament, Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Mahmood Khan Achakzai had been working on the Afghan funding and wanted to serve the wishes of Afghanistan. He said both the personalities had taken much benefit from the government and one day they would also leave the ruling alliance. Minister for Safron Abdul Qadir Baloch, responding to the opposition’s concern, assured that the Fata reforms bill would surely be brought in parliament saying the parliamentary leaders will meet the prime minister to deliberate on this matter. He said that the Fata Reforms Committee had made 25 recommendations, including extending jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the high court to Fata.
Baloch further clarified that the government had withheld the bill due to some technical reasons and was hopeful of tabling the bill in the House in a day or two. He said that from the last 70 years, all the political parties had been sleeping and it was only the PML-N which introduced reforms in Fata. “We will not allow any party to take the credit for the Fata Reforms Bill, the whole credit goes to Pakistan Muslim League-N,” he added.
Meanwhile, responding to a calling attention notice regarding rapid increase in the prices of fertilisers, the minister for national food security informed the House that sufficient stocks of urea were available in the country.
The minister said that demand of urea fertilizer was 3.075 million tons, while a stock of 3.465 was available in the country. The minister said that the government was considering withdrawing all kinds of taxes on the fertilizer sector. Minister of State for Petroleum Jam Kamal said that the petroleum prices were structured according to the international market.
Responding to a calling attention notice regarding the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products, he said that petrol prices in Pakistan were still the lowest in South Asia. The minister of state said that the government had always passed on the maximum benefit to the public when petroleum prices decreased in the international market. The House on Thursday passed two bills including "The Women in Distress and Detention Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017" and "The Rulers of Acceding States (Abolition of Privy Purses and Privileges) (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
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