Democrats push for a key bill to quell southern violence

The draft bill will aim at upgrading the status of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre in coordinating military and civilian operations, ensuring the dispensing of justice and rights protection, and implementing policies for the Deep South as the special development region.

The revamped centre would be headed by a C-11 official working under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's Office and reporting work progress to the Cabinet every three month.

The centre is to oversee the budgetary allocations in the strife-torn South and set development plans with the assistance from an advisory committee comprising local figures.

"The Democrats view the southern violence as a most urgent problem and it will be up to the new government to respond by designating the top priority to the bill in order to demonstrate its sincerity to tackle the problems," he said.

The Nation