ANP to plug democratic loopholes: Aimal Wali

CHARSADDA: Awami National Party (ANP) provincial President Aimal Wali Khan on Sunday said that his party would close the loopholes in the democratic system after making it to the assemblies.

Addressing a gathering here, he called for the accountability of the parliamentarians, judiciary, media and the generals. He said that everybody would have to submit to the rule of law and the process of accountability. “We aim to strengthen democracy by removing the loopholes in the system,” he said.

Aimal Wali warned against changing the 18th Amendment, saying that it was not implemented in letter and spirit. He said that it would undermine the country if an attempt was made to undo the landmark legislation. “We will not let this happen,” he vowed. He said the ANP had no complaint from anybody, adding that the party was striving to help Khyber Pakhtunkhwa get its due rights and control over its resources. The ANP leader said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produced surplus electricity and gas, but it was unfortunate that the residents of KP were braving the shortage of the two commodities. He said that the people in KP were facing unemployment and poverty despite the fact that the province was rich in natural resources.

He said that the ANP executed record uplift work in KP during its government in 2013. He said that the ANP was stopped from coming to power and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was imposed on KP in the name of change in 2018. He said that the PTI government compromised over the rights of the KP and left the province under huge loan. He said the provincial debt had soared to over Rs1,000 billion due to the incompetence of the PTI rulers.