Amir Muqam, leader of Pakistan Muslim League and adviser to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while talking to journalists on November 06, 2013 in Hayatabad Peshawar, provincial capital of KPK province, said that his party is trying to resolve issues of militancy that has hit the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the Fedeally Adminstrated Tribal Areas (FATA).
He said that he would liberate the people of FATA and KPK province from problems they had been facing for the last several years. He said that it was his responsibility to resolve all issues of Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) and KPK.
Amir Muqam was elected as a Member of National Assembly (MNA) for the first time in general elections 2002, when General Pervez Musharraf was the president of Pakistan. Muqam was then a member of Jamaat Islami, one of the six parties that formed the alliance Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal ( MMA) in opposition to Musharraf government in the then-Northwest Frontier Province - now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
After elections, he quickly switched loyalties to join the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q and became Federal Minister of State for Water and Power, and also for Political Affairs. He was re-elected as MNA in the general elections of 2008 but in 2012, he joined Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz and was appointed Senior Vice President of PML-N in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Changing his political affiliations twice affected his political popularity. He did not succeed in the 2013 general elections and was defeated in three constituencies of the district of Swat. On October 28, 2013, Amir Muqam was appointed Adviser to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, a status equal to that of a federal minister in Pakistan.
On becoming adviser to the PM, Amir Muqam assured the people of FATA and KPK that with his (ruling) party’s efforts, they would be freed from the challenges they were facing.
According to media reports, KPK and FATA are still faced with grave security and law and order issues such as bomb blasts, suicide attacks, military operations and displacement that has badly disturbed life in the region.
When contacted, Amir Muqam told Truth Tracker that indeed FATA had multiple problems and challenges but that PML –N would take every possible step to overcome these issues. “Being adviser to the prime minister, it is my responsibility to convey all burning issues of FATA and my province to the federal government,” said Muqam. “We will do our best to restore peace in tribal areas and bring back displaced people to their homes in FATA.”
When asked about a plan or a framework for resolution of these problems, he said that his party needed time to tackle these challenges. He said he had been made an adviser and he would endeavor to be a true representative of Pakhtuns in the federal government.
Main Iftikhar , former information minister under the Awami National Party that was in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2008 to 2012, welcomed the remarks made by Amir Muqam and said his Awami National Party supported anyone who sought to bring peace, tranquility and prosperity to the Pakhtun areas.
He said that his government had initiated peace talks with the militants and Taliban several times, but that they were sabotaged by unseen powers and, as a result, lawlessness had increased in the region.
“If Amir Muqam is sincere in his approach, he will definitely play a key role in tackling these issues as he is the sole representative of Pakhtuns in the federal government at the moment,” Iftikhar told Truth Tracker.
He said the provincial government of Pakistan - Tehreek-e-Insaf, Imran Khan’s party - should support the efforts of Amir Muqam.
Nasir Khan Afridi, MNA from Khyber Agency in FATA, told Truth Tracker that he was not aware of Amir Muqam’s statement and that Muqam did not consult FATA parliamentarians in this connection.
He said FATA had a six-member parliamentary group in the National Assembly struggling for peace and development in tribal areas with support from the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “If our parliamentary group is taken into confidence and assigned a role by PML-N, we will be ready to support peace initiatives and other efforts in FATA,” Afridi said.
Masood Jan, a Peshawar-based social activist, said that Amir Muqam’s statement was not based on facts because he had no mandate or authority to resolve the challenges faced by the people in the region. “Constitutionally, only the president of Pakistan and governor KPK have the authority to address issues in FATA,” said Masood.
He asked: If the last ANP government, backed by former President Asif Ali Zardari, could not succeed in bringing peace in FATA and KPK, how could Muqam?
“It is just a hollow political statement, nothing more,” Masood told Truth Tracker.
Considering the opinion of independent experts and the prevailing situation in FATA and KPK, Truth Tracker rules that Amir Muqam’s statement is only half true.
I did my master in journalism and Mass Communication from university of Peshawar in 2006. I have a vast experience in humanitarian reporting. I have have worked in different national and international news organizations as producer and reporter.Presently I am working with Center for Research and Security Studies as reporter from southern areas of KP.
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