Political Parties Campaign in Historic FATA Elections. URDU version of the news release available here: http://www.slideshare.net/FATAparties/fata-committee-news-release-14-march-2013-urdu ---- For a Microsoft Word version of the press release, visit the following link: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B7rCHTKtHTewQ3hzRFU1aVdPUWM/edit?usp=sharing

1. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2013
Urdu version of this news release can be downloaded at: http://goo.gl/LZF6n
Contact: Political Parties Joint Committee on FATA Reforms
fataparties@gmail.com
http://facebook.com/FATAparties
http://twitter.com/FATAparties
See additional contact information for members of the committee below
POLITICAL PARTIES CAMPAIGN IN HISTORIC FATA ELECTIONS
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Following the extension of the Political Parties Order to FATA in
2011, this year marks the year that political parties will seek election in the tribal areas for the
first time ever. As general elections approach, political party candidates are actively preparing
their campaigns for MNA seats to represent FATA voters in the National Assembly of Pakistan.
As political parties prepare to participate in the first party-based elections in FATA history, the
Political Parties Joint Committee on FATA reforms (FATA Committee) came together on
Thursday to present their assessment of the pre-election environment in FATA and their vision
for further political reforms. The parties highlighted many shortcomings in the implementation
of the Political Parties Order extension and ongoing obstacles to their free operation in the tribal
areas.
After recently welcoming the addition of PTI to the group of 11 political parties, the FATA
Committee also convened this week 53 political party leaders from the seven agencies and
frontier regions of FATA to discuss the realities of campaigning in FATA and the status of
implementation of 2011 FATA reforms, including amendments to the Frontier Crimes
Regulation (FCR). Tribal political party leaders indicated that political agents, the security
establishment and militants are all responsible for restricting their ability to operate freely in
FATA.
In December, the FATA Committee highlighted five key concerns requiring urgent action by the
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure fair, transparent and accessible general
elections in FATA. Unfortunately, the ECP has thus far only responded to one of those five
recommendations as the Election Commission has recently made assurances that many of the
more than 600,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) will be provided with polling stations in
FATA Committee News Release, March 14, 2013 1

2. IDP camps as well as in the host communities where they now are living. Displaced by violent
conflict, FATA IDPs deserve the same right to vote as all Pakistanis. The FATA Committee will
be monitoring this process closely to ensure that the ECP provides free and fair access to voting
for all FATA IDPs. Visit http://slideshare.net/FATAparties for the full text of the FATA
Committee’s December 2012 elections recommendations.1
Following deliberations in Islamabad this week, tribal leaders from nine of the committee’s
eleven political parties2 agreed on 40 additional consensus recommendations for free and fair
elections in FATA and the effective implementation of previously enacted FATA reforms. These
recommendations require immediate consideration and tribal party leaders demanded that many
of them be enacted before general elections.
FATA political party leaders highlighted that parties are currently not able to operate freely in
many agencies and frontier regions, due to the law and order situation as well as obstacles put in
place by the State, including intelligence agencies, political agents, the army, some FATA elite,
as well as national and international terrorist groups. All of these elements are working against
the political participation of FATA citizens and restrict political parties from visiting their voters.
The tribal leaders also stated that intelligence agencies regularly intimidate them and their
political workers and prevent movement in their areas.
The following 40 recommendations were consensus points, approved by all tribal political party
leaders in attendance:
1) The 2011 Political Parties Order extension and Frontier Crimes Regulation amendments are
not being implemented properly by the political administration and the security
establishment. Implementation should be monitored and enforced by the government.
2) Political parties should be permitted to hold corner meetings without restrictions or advance
notice. The requirement of asking permission or notifying the PA for all meetings in
advance is not realistic and puts political parties at risk of attack. Large public gatherings or
rallies should be notified one week in advance. No permission should be required.
3) Political parties should be given free and open access and also necessary security to travel to
and operate in FATA.
4) Political parties should include FATA democracy and FATA reforms in their national party
manifestoes for general elections.
5) Political parties must not “sell” tickets for MNA seats. The Election Commission should
implement and enforce a ban on this anti-democratic activity.
1
The December 2012 elections recommendations were submitted to the President of Pakistan, the Election
Commission, NADRA, the SAFRON Ministry and the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
2
MQM and PTI party leaders from the agencies and frontier regions could not attend due to scheduling conflicts.
Their party leadership, however, did meet with the FATA Committee this week.
FATA Committee News Release, March 14, 2013 2

3. 6) Many maliks continue to sell the votes of their people for money. This practice should be
prohibited by the Election Commission and any “vote buying” activities should be
punishable by law, including the disqualification of candidates violating the regulation.
7) Reserved MNA seats for FATA women should be established, giving them the same special
representation as in the rest of Pakistan.
8) To ensure increased women’s participation in elections, women’s polling stations should be
provided in all agencies and frontier regions.
9) The frontier regions constituency NA-47 is too large and too spread out for effective
representation. The constituency should be divided on the basis of population.
10) No political activity is taking place so far in the NA-42 constituency in South Waziristan.
The government should take swift action to ensure that free and fair elections may take
place in this constituency.
11) Political awareness remains low throughout FATA. Government, political parties, civil
society and the international community should work together to educate FATA citizens
about the political process.
12) PEMRA jurisdiction should be extended to FATA. Access and security should also be
provided to media so that they can enter FATA freely and better cover elections and
political parties.
13) Many journalists are “for sale”, intimidated and pressured by the State and security
establishment. To decrease this corruption and biased reporting, more private media should
be given increased access and security in FATA.
14) The government and the Election Commission should investigate journalists who are
blackmailing political agents and/or political parties.
15) National and international media should send their own independent journalists to FATA
and ensure that they report accurately and in-depth on local problems and news in FATA.
16) Polling stations should be no more than 2km from voters’ homes to increase political
participation in FATA.
17) Security should be ensured at all polling stations and no polling station should be shifted
after being previously established or announced.
18) FATA voters should have access to polling stations in their own village and not be forced to
travel to another village to participate in elections.
19) The political parties Code of Conduct published by the Election Commission of Pakistan
must also apply to elections in FATA.
20) The Election Commission must monitor the free and fair administration of elections in FATA.
21) The ECP should make regulations specifically for free and fair elections in FATA.
22) Judicial officers should be deployed as returning officers in general elections.
23) The political agent should support the participation of all FATA society in political activity
and the upcoming general elections.
FATA Committee News Release, March 14, 2013 3

4. 24) All FATA IDPs should be provided the right to vote in the location of their displacement,
regardless if they are living in camps or in host communities.
25) IDPs from all frontier regions should be officially recognized by the government and also
given the right to vote in the location of their displacement.
26) FATA should also be represented in the federal cabinet of the caretaker government set-up.
27) International observers should be given permission to monitor elections in FATA.
28) FATA elite should be stopped from working together with the State to prevent the free
operation of political activity in FATA.
29) Increased CNIC and voter registration efforts are sorely needed in FATA. NADRA should
deploy mobile registration vans: as many and as soon as possible.
30) Blocked CNICs of FATA citizens should be unblocked with the approval of tribal elders.
31) All voter registration forms submitted prior to the announcement of elections must be
accepted and added to the voter list.
32) The political agent must not show favoritism toward any political party candidate or any
independent candidate.
33) The governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa must not interfere in or influence elections in FATA.
34) Public funds allocated to sitting MNAs must not be utilized for their election campaigns.
The Election Commission must enforce a ban on the use of these funds for campaign
purposes. FATA MNA and Senator funds should be used only for development schemes
and should not be misused for corrupt purposes.
35) Corruption by political agents must be investigated and stopped. Political agent
appointments are “for sale” in FATA and this practice must be stopped.
36) Political agents should expedite the issuance of birth, death, marriage and disability certificates
to FATA citizens. These services are very poorly administered and must be improved.
37) The army is part of the problem, not part of the solution. The security establishment should
stop its involvement with terrorist and militant organizations.
38) Further amendments to the Frontier Crimes Regulation are needed.
39) The United Nations and other international organizations should make public statements
about the lack of human and political rights in FATA.
40) All of these recommendations should be implemented and enforced immediately, prior to
the day of general elections 2013.
These recommendations will be submitted for immediate consideration and action to the new
caretaker government as well as the President of Pakistan, the Election Commission, NADRA,
the SAFRON Ministry, the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the FATA Secretariat.
Unlike the rest of Pakistan, FATA voters do not enjoy the same legislative representation or
accountability as other Pakistani citizens. This is true because Article 247 of the Constitution of
FATA Committee News Release, March 14, 2013 4

5. the Islamic Republic of Pakistan prevents FATA MNAs (and all members of the National
Assembly) from legislating for FATA. Despite this restriction on political rights and until the
situation is corrected, FATA citizens still deserve MNAs that represent their needs and desires
for democratic development and an improved standard of living.
With complete support from political party leadership, 11 political parties are represented on the
FATA Committee: Awami National Party (ANP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam F
(JUI-F), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), National Party (NP), Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami
Party (PkMAP), Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-
Azam (PML), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Qaumi Watan
Party (QWP).
In 2010, the Political Parties Joint Committee on FATA Reforms began working together to
demonstrate their shared commitment to promoting debate throughout Pakistan and to call for
the implementation of reforms in the tribal areas. Today, the 11 member parties of the FATA
Committee continue to engage in discussions with stakeholders from FATA to build consensus,
increase awareness and promote dialogue on existing and future reforms.
PDF and Word versions of this news release in English and Urdu: http://goo.gl/LZF6n
High resolution photographs of FATA Committee members and events: http://goo.gl/LZF6n
Links to the news release and photos: http://twitter.com/FATAparties
For more information and interviews, please contact the members of the FATA Committee.
Contact details are indicated below.
Political Parties Joint Committee on FATA Reforms
Member and Contact Information:
Awami National Party (ANP)
Latif Afridi, Vice President KP
Bushra Gohar, MNA, Central Vice President
Arbab Tahir, General Secretary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 0333-939-3223, arbab@anp.org
Nawabzada Mohsin Ali Khan, Deputy Secretary General Central
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI)
Mohammad Ibrahim, Professor and Provincial Ameer, muhammadibrahimk5@gmail.com
Sahibzada Haroon Rashid, Ameer FATA, 0300-516-2577
Zarnoor Afridi, Naib Ameer FATA
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F)
Mohammad Jalal ud din, Advocate, Former Ambassador
Abdul Jalil Jan, Information Secretary, KP, 0333-910-7831, abduljalil_jan@yahoo.com
Mufti Abdul Shakoor, Deputy General Secretary KP
Abdur-Rashid, General Secretary Bajaur
FATA Committee News Release, March 14, 2013 5

6. Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)
Syed Asif Hasnain, MNA, 0300-927-7831, asifhasnain_255@yahoo.com
Mohammad Rehan Hashmi, MNA
National Party (NP)
Dr. Malik Baloch, President
Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenju, Vice President
Mukhtar Bacha, Provincial President, KP, 0333-910-7133, mukhtarbacha@gmail.com
Idrees Kamal, Provincial General Secretary, KP
Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP)
Akram Shah Khan, Central Secretary General
Mukhtar Khan Yousafzai, Provincial President, KP
Raza Mohammad Raza, Information Secretary
Pakistan Muslim League (PML)
Ajmal Khan Wazir, Central Senior Vice President, 0300-579-1779, ajmalkwazir@gmail.com
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)
Rehmat Salam Khattak, General Secretary, KP, 0300-589-3705, pmlnkpk@gmail.com
Arsallah Khan Hoti, Spokesperson, KP
Nasir Kamal Marwat, Vice President
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
Senator Farhatullah Babar, Spokeperson, President of Pakistan
Kiramat Ullah Chagharmati, Speaker, KP Assembly
Rahim Dad Khan, Senior Minister, KP
Senator Sardar Ali
Mirza M. Jihadi, Advisor SAFRON, 0300-598-4198, mirzamohdjihad@hotmail.com
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)
Barrister Salman Afridi, Political Strategy Committee KP, 0345-888-6994, salmanafridi@hotmail.com
Javed Afridi, Elections in FATA
Qaumi Watan Party (QWP)
Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli, General Secretary
Sikandar Hayat Sherpao, MPA, President, KP
Asad Afridi, President, FATA, 0333-937-5165, asadafridi18@yahoo.com
Usman Ali Khalil, Provincial Vice President
PDF and Word versions of this news release in English and Urdu: http://goo.gl/LZF6n
High resolution photographs of FATA Committee members and events: http://goo.gl/LZF6n
Links to the news release and photos: http://twitter.com/FATAparties
fataparties@gmail.com | @FATAparties | http://facebook.com/FATAparties
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FATA Committee News Release, March 14, 2013 6