ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar has said the consultation process on the constitutional and legal matters of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) is underway, adding that broad consultations would be held on its future administrative and constitutional arrangement and all relevant stakeholders would be taken on board.
He invited the chief minister and the leader of the opposition of Gilgit-Baltistan to participate in the next meeting of the working group. The meeting of the GB Issues Working Group was held on Friday under the chairmanship of the federal minister for Law and Justice. Officials from Gilgit-Baltistan, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan Council participated in the meeting. The meeting held a detailed discussion on the constitutional, legal, financial and administrative matters of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Participants reviewed various options and previous reports concerning constitutional and legal matters, while different proposals and models for the provision of financial resources to Gilgit-Baltistan were also examined.
The meeting considered possibilities for introducing practical reforms within the existing governance framework of Gilgit-Baltistan. Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar said the constitutional matters of Gilgit-Baltistan would be considered comprehensively and in detail and that the consultation process would continue. He said the financial, administrative and constitutional matters of the region needed to be considered in an integrated manner. He directed the Working Group to formulate practical and workable proposals for resolving the issues of Gilgit-Baltistan.
He directed that an interim report be prepared after comprehensive deliberations and presented, along with recommendations, before the main committee. The federal minister said more time would be required to reach an agreed constitutional and legal solution. He stressed the need for broad consultations on the future administrative and constitutional arrangement of Gilgit-Baltistan, with all relevant stakeholders taken on board. He said national consensus on the constitutional matters of Gilgit-Baltistan was essential and that the views of all relevant parties should be duly considered.
He said the chief minister and the leader of the opposition of Gilgit-Baltistan had been invited to the next meeting so that their views could also be incorporated into the consultation process. He said protecting the rights of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and ensuring their sense of equality remained a top priority.
