Tribal empowerment

Posted on 9 months ago

Brig ® Said Nazir Mohmand
The administration department of FATA Secretariat has prepared and pasted the draft, Federally Administrated Tribal Areas Local Government Regulation, 2012, on its web to get input on its content and finalise the formalities for promulgation by 14th Aug 2012.
The PPP-led govt will rightfully claim another administrative/political venture to its credit in FATA after amending the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). There is no denying the fact that till date numerous observations have been raised, comments pasted and recommendations made are of value and substance in improving the draft regulation. The critics are critical of KPK Governor’s powers, whereas comments are restricted to the existing clauses and the recommendations are at micro level. The proposed amendment, modification and improvement in the 110 sections/clauses and three schedules contained in 53 pages document, even if incorporated, will be a patch work and fine tuning at best.
According to Article 247 of the Constitution, FATA is administered through the Governor of KPK (so far none from proper FATA), a pick and choose of the President of Pakistan, equipped with the heavy and long stick of FCR, beyond the reach of Parliament and judiciary.
Its legislative representatives in the National Assembly and Senate can do legislation for the entire Pakistan less their own constituencies’ i.e. FATA. This special own zone of the President of Pakistan is even beyond the reach of the basic human rights as enshrined in the Constitution, is in a state of flux and governance vacuum.
This huge governance and administrative void can not be filled by half-hearted, flip flop, catchy patchy work but either through the constitutional amendment or a bullwark at macro plinth. Since the constitutional amendment concerning FATA is a tall task, long haul beyond the capacity of FATA legislative body in both the houses, therefore the short-term solution and easy course of action is the creation of a parallel of the provincial legislative body in the form of a FATA Council.
The FATA Council shall comprise 24 councilors, three from each Tribal Agency(7x3=21) and one each from two Frontier Regions(6/2+1=3). These councilors shall be elected through adult franchise from their respective constituencies (each tribal agency divided/ demarcated on demographic/geographical basis into three constituencies) to address/facilitate the representation on sub tribe basis.
There shall be one per Tehsil and FR councillors on the existing tehsil/FR level duly elected by the local councillors elected through adult franchise on the lines of basic democracies. The number of local councillors shall figure between 50 to 70 in each tehsil/FR according to the size and demographic density of the tehsil. The whole FATA Electoral College shall comprise 2500 to 3000 Local Councillors, 43 Tehsil Councilors, 6 FR Councillors and 24 FATA Councillors with a total of 2600 to 3100 representatives body encompassing all tiers of society and administrative units. The tribal empowerment system could be tabulated as:
* Criteria for the FATA Councillor will be the same as applicable to a provincial assembly member. The function of FATA Council will be on some counts synonyms to the function of a provincial assembly. The tenure of the council shall be three years. The election to the FATA Council shall be open to party/non party basis, whereas the election at Local and Tehsil council be restricted to non-party basis.
* The FATA Council will constitute a body through which the governor will extend and exercise his good governance and administration. The FATA Council shall act as an advisory body to the governor on any matter concerning social justice/economic projects, FCR, social uplift and dispute/conflict resolution. Governor will appoint/form committees from amongst the FATA Councillors for addressing/investigating various issues and extension of good governance/administration.
* Governor shall exercise the power to dissolve the FATA Council before the completion of the three years tenure, on gross misconduct, corruption and acts of subversion. However, FATA Council has the right to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
* The local body administration and function will be at Tehsil and local council level. The Tehsil council function will be synonyms to that of a local body/govt and municipal committee as in vogue in the provinces. However the rules of business will be drawn according to the local customs and traditions.
* The chairman of the Tehsil councillors in each Tribal Agency will be elected through the combined majority votes of local councillors and all Tehsil councillors. The Chairman will act as coordinator between the political administration and Tehsil councils in respective Tribal Agencies. The FR Councillor will be the coordinator between the political administration and local councillors.
* Governor has the power to dissolve the Tehsil Council for the reasons he deems fit to be detrimental to the good governance/administration but the Tehsil council has the right of appeal in the high court. However, if the dissolution is on the advise of FATA council, then right of appeal will cease to be exercised by the Tehsil council
The salient features of FATA Empowerment could be summarized as:
The tribal empowerment, if organised and implemented in good spirit will usher an era of real change and turn around the deprived ones to the status of empowered stakeholders in the governance and administration of FATA.
The common tribesman will be having representation at multiple tiers of legislation, governance, and administration.His voice, vote and choice of representation shall count at Local Council, FATA Council and at National Assembly level.
It will be a good blend of local body govt system at Agency administrative level and legislation/governance at FATA Secretariat/Governor level.
This empowerment of FATA is not captive/subject to any amendment in the Constitution, therefore the President of Pakistan can promulgate it through a regulation.
The empowerment of tribal area people in real sense and essence could be done on the lines prescribed without any constitutional amendment. Any system short of the empowerment will be counter productive and limp to start with. Since the details of the tribal empowerment system are beyond the scope of this column, therefore for detailed briefing/presentation the subscriber of the article could be approached on cell # 03455129081 and e.mail: saidu_kf@yahoo.com.
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