Lawmakers of the Pakistan’s tribal areas have begun negotiations to get their allies elected to the Senate as the polls for the upper house draw near, and there are reports some may make huge sums of money selling their votes.
The Senate has eight representatives from FATA, four of whom will retire in March. Eleven members of the National Assembly from the tribal areas vote to send new representatives to the Senate. The 12th National Assembly seat in FATA – NA-38, Kurram Agency – is vacant because of the volatile security situation in the constituency.
In August 2012, then president Asif Ali Zardari extended the Political Parties Act (PPA) to FATA and introduced a regulation to amend the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulation law under Article 247 of the Constitution, putting FATA on an almost equal footing politically with other regions in Pakistan. Prior to the move, FATA’s 12 assemblymen and eight senators were elected as independent candidates and could not join a political party. That changed in the 2013 general elections.
Only three political parties were able to win seats from FATA however. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has two senators – Shahabuddin Khan from Khar area of Bajaur Agency and Ghalib Khan from Wana area of South Wazisistan. Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) won one seat from the Mehsud area of South Waziristan, and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) won from one Frontier Regions constituency. The other eight MNAs were elected as independent candidates, although they joined various political parties later on.
A final list of candidates is yet to come out, but insiders and journalists say many have begun political maneuvering and negotiations to get their allies elected, and some wealthy politicians and businessmen, especially from Khyber Agency, are bidding for votes to get into the upper house.
Shahjee Gul Afridi, a parliamentarian from Khyber Agency’s Jamrud and Landikotal areas, is pitching his brother Taj Afridi, who is a contractor for supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan. Abdul Razzaq Afridi, former federal minister, and Senator Abbas Afridi, the incumbent federal textile minister who is also retiring in March, are being seen as strong candidates. There are reports that Sajid Hussain Turi, an MNA from Kurram Agency, and Bilal Rehman, an MNA from Mohmand Agency, may campaign to get their brothers elected to the Senate.
Qaiser Jamal, the PTI MNA, may abstain because of the party’s policy to stay away from the National Assembly. But a FATA leader active in the negotiations says he is very much a part of the bargaining that is going on.
As stakes rise, there are concerns that some parliamentarians will sell their votes. Among those who have expressed these concerns is PTI chairman Imran Khan, although he did not specifically talk about FATA.
“In the last Senate polls in 2012, candidates offered up to Rs 250 million for a seat,” said a relative of a FATA parliamentarian. “We are seeing a similar situation this time.”
Asad Munir, a security expert from the tribal areas, tweeted: “In 2012 a Senate candidate from FATA probably paid about Rs 150 million to get elected, this time it may be above 200 million”.
An MNA in Islamabad said some parliamentarians were also paid to abstain in the last elections. Openly admitting he had ‘spent money’ to get elected, he said now was the time to earn back that money. “I spent more than Rs 50 million on paying voters, political administration officials and even Taliban militants,” he said. “It was an investment. Now is the time to reap the profit.”
The Senate has eight representatives from FATA, four of whom will retire in March. Eleven members of the National Assembly from the tribal areas vote to send new representatives to the Senate. The 12th National Assembly seat in FATA – NA-38, Kurram Agency – is vacant because of the volatile security situation in the constituency.
In August 2012, then president Asif Ali Zardari extended the Political Parties Act (PPA) to FATA and introduced a regulation to amend the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulation law under Article 247 of the Constitution, putting FATA on an almost equal footing politically with other regions in Pakistan. Prior to the move, FATA’s 12 assemblymen and eight senators were elected as independent candidates and could not join a political party. That changed in the 2013 general elections.
Only three political parties were able to win seats from FATA however. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has two senators – Shahabuddin Khan from Khar area of Bajaur Agency and Ghalib Khan from Wana area of South Wazisistan. Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) won one seat from the Mehsud area of South Waziristan, and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) won from one Frontier Regions constituency. The other eight MNAs were elected as independent candidates, although they joined various political parties later on.
"It was an investment"
A final list of candidates is yet to come out, but insiders and journalists say many have begun political maneuvering and negotiations to get their allies elected, and some wealthy politicians and businessmen, especially from Khyber Agency, are bidding for votes to get into the upper house.
Shahjee Gul Afridi, a parliamentarian from Khyber Agency’s Jamrud and Landikotal areas, is pitching his brother Taj Afridi, who is a contractor for supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan. Abdul Razzaq Afridi, former federal minister, and Senator Abbas Afridi, the incumbent federal textile minister who is also retiring in March, are being seen as strong candidates. There are reports that Sajid Hussain Turi, an MNA from Kurram Agency, and Bilal Rehman, an MNA from Mohmand Agency, may campaign to get their brothers elected to the Senate.
Qaiser Jamal, the PTI MNA, may abstain because of the party’s policy to stay away from the National Assembly. But a FATA leader active in the negotiations says he is very much a part of the bargaining that is going on.
As stakes rise, there are concerns that some parliamentarians will sell their votes. Among those who have expressed these concerns is PTI chairman Imran Khan, although he did not specifically talk about FATA.
“In the last Senate polls in 2012, candidates offered up to Rs 250 million for a seat,” said a relative of a FATA parliamentarian. “We are seeing a similar situation this time.”
Asad Munir, a security expert from the tribal areas, tweeted: “In 2012 a Senate candidate from FATA probably paid about Rs 150 million to get elected, this time it may be above 200 million”.
An MNA in Islamabad said some parliamentarians were also paid to abstain in the last elections. Openly admitting he had ‘spent money’ to get elected, he said now was the time to earn back that money. “I spent more than Rs 50 million on paying voters, political administration officials and even Taliban militants,” he said. “It was an investment. Now is the time to reap the profit.”