PEHSAWAR: PTI leaders on Monday rejected the proposed revival of the jirga system in the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying that making such decisions was the prerogative of the provincial government.
Earlier in the month, a meeting of top federal and provincial government officials discussed and stressed the need to revive the jirga system in the merged districts. A jirga is a traditional form of conflict resolution, primarily found in Pashtun societies of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where a council of male elders gathers to settle disputes based on local customs and traditions
The meeting discussed ways to promote an effective alternative justice system in tribal districts.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad along with other party leaders, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said: “In none of the committee meetings was reviving the jirga system discussed for the tribal areas, and after the 18th Amendment, that right was with the provincial government.
“After the 25th Amendment , when the tribal areas were merged with KP, the federal government no longer had the right to make a committee there.”
Former KP governor Shah Farman, MNA Iqbal Afridi, KP Finance Minister Aftab Alam Afridi, PTI central information secretary and MNA Sheikh Waqas Akram and others accompanied Gohar.
“I would like to thank the PTI chairman and other leadership for stopping the mines and minerals bill. When the federal govt got to know that this [bill] would be stopped, this is where this ruse started to gain access to the mines and minerals,” Iqbal said.
Meanwhile, the KP finance minister said, “Today, the (Ministry of States and Frontier Regions) Safron ministry called a meeting to interfere in the province’s issues, although after the merger, it is completely the provincial government’s right to legislate for the merged districts.
“We have a 2020 act for alternate dispute resolution, and we are trying to improve on it, but then why is the Safron ministry interfering in the province’s issues?”
He said that the increased share in the National Financial Commission award after the merger was also not provided by the federal government to KP.
In May, a multi-party conference organised by the Awami National Party rejected the proposed KP Mines and Minerals Act, 2025 , declaring it a “clear violation of the Constitution of Pakistan”.
The bill recommended the establishment of licensing and exploration sections at the directorate of the mines and minerals directorate, as well as a mines and minerals force in the province.
Though the bill provides for the protection of landowner rights and training and other opportunities for the local communities, it is silent about if those communities are to receive any share from the mining operations in their respective areas.
