LAHORE Dec 21 (TNS): Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will meet former premier Nawaz Sharif in Jati Umra today to discuss FATA reforms, among other matters, sources said.
According to sources, PM Abbasi will also be accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif during the meeting.
Among the matters to be discussed would be the ongoing deadlock over the Federally Administered Tribal Areas’ (FATA) merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s reservations over the proposed reforms.
The issue of FATA’s merger with KP remains one of the pending matters for the incumbent government and has dominated the political discourse of the country in recent weeks.
Earlier today, the opposition once again staged a walkout from the National Assembly proceedings as the FATA Reforms Bill for the region’s merger with KP remained out of the agenda for yet another session.
On Wednesday, the FATA supreme council held a meeting with Prime Minister Abbasi and said that the citizens of the region want to maintain their separate identity. The matter of FATA’s merger with KP was left unresolved after the meeting.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman meanwhile has conditionally agreed to support the proposal of FATA’s merger with KP and said that further consultations for the FATA Reforms Bill will continue to be held.
