ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain on Thursday signed a constitutional amendment formally merging the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, following its passage in the National Assembly and Senate, and in KP’s Assembly.
KP Gov. Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, FATA Reform Committee head Sartaj Aziz, National Security Advisor Nasir Khan Janjua and the prime minister’s legal adviser Zafarullah Khan witnessed the signing.
Hussain congratulated the people of FATA, saying the merger will “open up an era of prosperity and development for its people and help them progress in all spheres of life.” He added: “The nation needs to work together to fully benefit from this historic opportunity.”
Aziz said the people of FATA will enjoy equal rights like other Pakistanis, and 1 trillion rupees ($8.64 billion) will be spent on developing the region over the next 10 years.
Earlier this week, on May 29, President Mamnoon Hussain signed the ‘FATA Interim Governance Regulation, 2018’ that is a set of interim rules for Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) until it merges with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa “within a timeframe of two years”.
The Constitutional Amendment passed by both the houses of parliament suggested merging FATA with KP within time frame of two years.
