Federally Administered Tribal Areas
In 1996, the Government of Pakistan finally granted the Federally Administered Tribal Areas the long requested "adult franchise", under which every adult would have the right to vote for their own representatives in the Parliament of Pakistan. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas were not allowed to organize political parties. Islamist candidates were able to campaign through mosques and madrassahs, as a result of which mullahs were elected to represent the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in the National Assembly in 1997 and 2002. This was a departure from prior tribal politics, where power was focused in the hands of secular authorities, "Maliks".