The government has accelerated the process of granting Gilgit Baltistan (GB) a provincial status; with almost all major political parties having agreed for the required legislation.
According to provincial ministers and lawmakers from opposition parties, a consensus has finally been made among all major political parties regarding making GB a province through amendments in the constitution.
During the past two weeks a number of meetings among the stakeholders has been held in Islamabad where a draft proposal regarding amendments in the constitution, prepared after thorough deliberations, was discussed.
Earlier GB Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid had circulated among members of the GB Legislative Assembly and his cabinet a draft bill seeking to amend the constitution to grant “provisional province status” to the strategically-located region, asking them to submit their “feedback and views”.
Later the same draft was shared with heads of political parties including PML-N, PPP, JUI-F, MQM, PML-Q and others by their representatives in the GB assembly for approval and feedback.
The bill has suggested a number of key amendments to the Constitution of 1973 seeking representation of the GB in the country’s National Assembly and the Senate, besides the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
According to an insider, both the center and regional government are intending to complete the process early. After developing major consensus on the draft reform bill, the stakeholders have also constituted a committee of 18 members including experts, lawmakers and bureaucrats, to finalize the transitional plan and other related arrangements before and after the amendments in the constitution.
As per Information Minister GB, Fathullah Khan, the final draft bill would be approved by the federal cabinet before the same is cleared from GB assembly through a resolution. Subsequently the same would be presented in the National Assembly for legislation, which needed a two-third majority in the house.
“Since the issue of Kashmir has been protected through the bill and GB would be granted a provisional provincial status till a plebiscite on Kashmir, all major political parties and stakeholders are agreed on the proposed bill,” he claimed.
Though GB would be treated as a province, the exemptions and subsidies available in the area would remain unchanged.
It is worth noting here that locals have demanded constitutional rights for the territory for a long time. Now, as the government moves ahead with this, there will be four seats for GB in the National Assembly (NA) and seven in the Senate.
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