A door opens for reform in Pakistan - Part II

Key political reforms include extending the Political Parties Act to FATA to bolster moderate political forces with a related petition pending in the Supreme Court. Phasing out the maliki system, the state should establish agency councils that are more accountable and representative than the appointed councils that expired last year. A FATA-wide council should also be created with a clear mandate to provide a forum to articulate interests, debate reforms and vote on issues such as FATA’s ultimate status in the federation - something FATA’s people should decide.

On legal reforms, appellate court jurisdiction, currently barred in the region, should be extended. Reforms of the British regulations must be pursued including overhauling certain penalties; giving the parties a role in jirga selection; expediting the judicial process; and accommodating requests for Shariah-based rulings. As Jamaat-i-Islami’s deputy provincial head in the Northwest Frontier Province from Khyber Agency put it, “there can be no peace without justice in FATA.”

As violence in FATA spirals out of control, on a scorching summer day in June, angry residents of Kurram Agency protested outside Parliament House in Islamabad. One banner read: “Is Parachinar part of Pakistan? If so, why is the government silent on human rights and why is Parachinar in Taliban’s control?”

These are questions of domestic and international import. For FATA’s plight has exacted a tragic toll on Pakistan and elicited a stark warning from the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, that the next terrorist attack on America will likely emerge from these badlands. Part of the answer to these questions is FATA’s antiquated and ineffective governance - a glaring example of how a local ill can affect global security.

No amount of anti-terrorism operations or development aid alone can cure this ill. The onus is on Islamabad to mainstream this region in conjunction with its people. For one of the Taliban’s greatest strengths in FATA today is the government’s weakness. That is why the federal government must heed the warning of one of its own senior coalition party members, Afrasiab Khattak, from the North West Frontier Province’s ruling Awami National Party: “the question of dismantling militant sanctuaries in FATA and taking short- and long-term measures to open up the areas and integrate it with the rest of the country needs urgent attention if we are to avoid the impending catastrophe.”