Constitutional amendment for increasing seats of tribal districts faces delay

ECP spokesman said that the electoral process will be continued till the approval of the amendment.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The constitutional amendment regarding increasing seats of tribal districts is facing delay as no implementation has been carried out on it. Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) spokesman said that the electoral process will be continued till the approval of the amendment from the Senate. The elections will be deferred after the implementation of the amendment, he added. Earlier, National Assembly (NA) had unanimously passed the 26th Constitution Amendment Bill to increase the number of FATA seats from 16 to 24. The bill was tabled by Mohsin Dawar – an independent member from tribal areas – and 288 Members National Assembly voted in favor of the bill while no MNA opposed it. It was the first time in the Pakistan Parliament’s history that a bill presented by an independent member was collectively approved both by the government as well as the opposition. Prime Minister Imran Khan had addressed the NA session and said the people of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) are going through a very difficult phase, and their concerns will now be listened at every forum. “The whole nation is standing with the people of the tribal areas, and every province will give three percent from National Finance Commission (NFC) Award to the erstwhile FATA for ten years. “Terrorism caused a lot of destruction in the tribal areas, and development funds cannot compensate for the damage.