ANP recommends renaming KP to 'Pakhtunkhwa' during special committee's session

The Awami National Party (ANP) has tabled a proposal before the special parliamentary committee to change Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's name to "Pakhtunkhwa", sources told Geo News on Monday.

The ANP submitted the proposal to change KP's name to "Pakhtunkhwa" — a longstanding demand of the Pakhtun nationalist parties — during the crucial in-camera session of the committee established to debate the contentious 26th constitutional amendment.

Lawmakers belonging to PML-N, PPP, PTI ANP, and others as the special committee comprising opposition and treasury benches’ members.

The sources said that the proposal was not rejected by any political party during the session.

Two days ago, ANP KP President Aimal Wali Khan interacted with journalists and claimed that all political parties were on the same page to change KP's name to Pakhtunkhwa.

Elaborating on his point of view, the politician had said: "Khyber is our district and our Pass and we value it, but a district’s name is linked to the province’s name."

"We don’t have any problem with it, however, since we were given an [Pashtun] identity so we should not be identified as KP or KPK," he added.

Claiming a full consensus on the recommendation, Khan went on to say: "Therefore, I think Khyber should be removed and bring in only Pakhtunkhwa for which we are all agreed," he added.

The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) was officially renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in April 2010 in the 18th Amendment passed during the rule of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the Centre.

Back then, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not an ideal new name for the erstwhile NWFP at that time but many Pakhtuns under the leadership of the nationalist ANP in and outside the province spontaneously celebrated the name-change, as it was a hard-won victory.

However, the finalisation of NWFP's new name in agreement with then parliamentary constitutional committee was a result of a compromise.

The treasury and opposition lawmakers are holding back-to-back sessions to evolve a consensus on the proposed constitutional package.

Amid the ongoing consultation process, progress was seen today as Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman — considered the last man standing in the way of the much-touted constitutional amendments — hinted at closing in on a consensus with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

During his interaction with journalists in Tando Allahyar, Fazl, who had been an ally of the ruling coalition, said that the government was ready to remove the contentious points from the proposed draft of the constitutional amendment bill.

The government had attempted to present the bill to amend the Constitution last month, but its allies as well as members from the opposition benches vehemently opposed the proposal, forcing the ruling party to begin a consultation process.

The treasury benches have 211 members against the opposition's 101 MNAs, meaning that the government needs 13 more votes to get the bill passed from the assembly.

Subsequently, the total strength of the ruling benches stands at 54 as the government is short of nine votes in the Senate to pass the judicial package.