ANP announces move to remain neutral in Senate

PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party (ANP) on Thursday announced neither to become part of the treasury nor the opposition benches in the Senate.

“We will ask the Senate chairman to declare all the three senators of ANP as members with separate status in the upper house of the parliament,” said the party president Senator Aimal Wali Khan while talking to media after a two-day meeting of the party’s Central Executive Council members at the Bacha Khan Markaz. He also asked the state institutions, including the army, to curb the fresh wave of terrorism in the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the militant organizations had once again resurfaced and targeted police and people.

The ANP president demanded complete implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) and punishment to those who had brought back and resettled the militants in KP under so-called reconciliation.

Aimal said the ANP would oppose militancy, terrorism and extremism in all its forms. He said the ANP opposed enforced disappearance in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The ANP chief reiterated his party stance on cordial relations with neighboring countries and asked the federal government to develop relations with India, Iran, China and Afghanistan on the trade bases.

He demanded the opening of all trade routes and legal points on the Pakistan borders with its neighboring countries. “But the local people and traders should be given priority while opening trade with the neighboring countries,” he added.

Aimal said that his party had opposed foreign interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs and likewise the party had never supported Pakistan’s meddling in other internal affairs.

“We believe that the Kashmir issue must be resolved under the UN Charter as we would accept the will and desire of Kashmiri people,” he said.

He said the federal government must accept the demands of the people of Malakand division where they are in peaceful protest against the imposition of new taxes.

The ANP chief said the government must honour its pledges and promises to the people of former FATA (tribal areas) at the time of its merger into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The ANP decided to convene an All Parties Conference soon where all the mainstream political parties would be invited to convince them to agree on a common agenda to pull the country out of prevailing political and economic instability.

Aimal said, “The genuine political forces must join hands for a real democracy, rule of the Constitution and the supremacy of the Parliament,” he said and added that ANP Central Executive Council (CEC) decided to convene APC shortly over a minimum common agenda where all the political parties would be invited. He said all the state institutions must remain within their constitutional limit.

Aimal was flanked by party central general secretary Dr Mohammad Salim, Central senior vice-president Senator Daud Khan, ANP provincial presidents Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Asghar Khan Achackzai, central information secretary Ihsanullah, provincial general secretary Hussain Shah Yusufzai, central vice-president Pervez Khan and other ANP leaders and CEC members.

Sharing the points and decisions discussed and decided during the ANP CEC meeting, Aimal said the ANP leadership had neither projected nor promoted the “Pakhtunistan” ideology but had always advocated for constitutional provincial rights over its resources within the frames of a stable and prosperous Pakistan.

“Achievement of provincial rights has always remained our top agenda and principled stance, and we will stick to it in the future,” he said and added that the ANP would defend the 18th Amendment to the Constitution at all costs as that gave rights to the smaller provinces.

To a question, the ANP leader said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the chief minister should stop ‘the drama and film dialogues’ while demanding the province’s due shares in national resources and net hydel profit.