Pak Parliament gives nod to bill seeking more representations from tribal areas

Pakistan's parliament on Monday unanimously passed a bill, which formalised an increase in the number of seats for tribal areas in the National Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly. The 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill, which was introduced in the National Assembly by independent lawmaker Mohsin Dawar on Thursday, was passed with 278 votes in the 342-member House.

With the passage of the bill, districts from the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) will have nine seats in the National Assembly, while their representation in the KP Assembly province will stand at 26. Earlier, representations from tribal districts were six in the National Assembly and 16 in the KP Assembly following the merger of FATA into KP province in 2018, which ended the semi-autonomous status of seven tribal districts along the Afghan border.

The bill also seeks four reserved seats for women and one for minorities. Addressing the House, Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his appreciation over the consensus among all parties on the bill.

He said the bill ended "sense of deprivation" among tribals. "This sense of deprivation is dangerous as it can be exploited by Pakistan's enemies and it is being exploited," he said.

The bill now needs to be passed by the Senate of Pakistan and endorsed by the President before it becomes a law.

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