The National Assembly (NA) unanimously approved the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill tabled by PTM’s leader and MNA Mohsin Dawar on Friday, seeking to increase the number of seats in the National and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies from the newly merged tribal areas.
The 26th amendment will increase ex-Fata’s six seats to 12 in the NA, an increase from 16 to 24 seats in the KP assembly.
Mohsin Dawar on Friday, tabled the bill and both the opposition and government sides backed the bill in unison.
Prime Minister Imran Khan also attended the NA session. Speaking on the NA floor, he said, the entire nation stood with the people of tribal areas who had faced difficult times. “The nation wants them to be mainstreamed and have a voice. I am happy that there is a consensus among all parties to increase their seats to mainstream them.”
The prime minister added that provinces would give three percent of their share of the NFC award to the tribal areas. “I want to tell the provinces that the decision to allocate three percent of the NFC award is necessary because of the destruction in Fata due to the war on terror. KP can never fulfil this from its budget.”
“Development of Fata will only take place when the provinces chip in three percent,” said the PM.
The PM stressed that no area should get the feeling that it is not owned by Pakistan. “This sense of deprivation is very dangerous because it can be exploited by Pakistan’s enemies, and they are doing this. Our development budget should be inclusive. We should try to raise up areas that have been left behind.”