News @ 3 - 24th May 2018

ISLAMABAD: A constitutional amendment bill for the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was on Thursday passed in the National Assembly.

The Constitution (Thirty-First Amendment) Bill 2018 was presented by Law Minister Chaudhary Mahmood Bashir Virk. The were 229 votes in favour of the constitution amendment while only one against it. A session of the Senate has been summoned on Thursday and the bill would be placed before the Upper House on Friday.

According to the constitution amendment, FATA will be granted sixteen general seats, four seats for women and one seat for non-Muslims in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The elections shall be held within one year after the general elections.

The amendment reduces the number of seats in the National Assembly from 342 to 336. The members of the National Assembly from FATA to be elected in 2018 election shall continue till dissolution of the Lower House.