PESHAWAR: All political parties of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have unanimously rejected the “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mines and Minerals Bill 2025”, calling it a direct attack on provincial autonomy, authority over local resources, and the supremacy of the Provincial Assembly.
Awami National Party organised an all-Parties Conference titled “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mines and Minerals Bill 2025” held at Bacha Khan Markaz, Peshawar. The conference was chaired by the ANP Provincial President, Mian Iftikhar Hussain. Leaders and representatives of all political parties of the province participated in the All Parties Conference.
The proposed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mines and Minerals Bill 2025 was discussed in detail at the conference. A joint statement was issued after the All Party Conference, which stated that the said amendment bill is a direct attack on the provincial autonomy, authority over local resources, and the supremacy of the Provincial Assembly acquired under the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
The declaration further states that the said Mines and Minerals Bill is an attempt to federally control the mineral resources of the province, which is against the Constitution and will damage the relationship of trust between the centre and the province. The authority over the resources of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lies solely with the people of the province and their elected representatives.
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According to the declaration, the APC has decided that no federal institution or bureaucracy can be allowed to control them. This conference completely rejects any authority of the SIFC and the Federal Minerals Wing over the affairs and mineral resources of the province and considers it a conspiracy to completely control the agriculture, minerals, tourism and environment and IT sectors through the SIFC and condemns it in the strongest terms.
The All Party Conference also rejected the establishment of the SIFC and warned that if this bill is forcibly implemented, a province-wide protest movement will be launched. Where does the declaration also say that the Minerals Act passed by the political parties of Balochistan should be withdrawn immediately? The All Parties Conference was attended by Maulana Ata-ur-Rehman (Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam), Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha (Pakistan People’s Party), Bushra Gohar (National Democratic Movement), Ali Asghar Khan, Arbab Sher Ali and Shakeel Khan (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf), Professor Ibrahim (Jamaat-e-Islami), Murtaza Javed Abbasi (Pakistan Muslim League-N), Tariq Ahmed Khan (Qaumi Watan Party), Muhammad Ali (Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party), Adil Mahmood (Mazdoor Kisan Party), Khursheed Khan (Pakhtunkhwa National Awami Party), Barrister Inayatullah (Awami Workers Party) and other political leaders. The All Parties Conference was also attended by representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, lawyers, mineral experts, trade organisations and Mines and Minerals Association and representatives of civil society, as well as other central and provincial leaders of the Awami National Party.
