History is in the offing when Amir Haider Khan Hoti, a joint candidate of ANP and PPPP for the slot of NWFP Chief Minister is likely to be elected unopposed as the opposition parties have decided not to field their candidate against the coalition partners.
The Awami National Party will finally fill the slot of NWFP chief minister after struggling for long 60 years. The ANP has emerged the single largest party in the province after bagging 31 provincial assembly ten national assembly seats.
The nationalist party has also won two seats each in Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies. According to sources, some independent candidates, won from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) have also close affiliation with ANP.
The PPPP has emerged the second largest party in the province after bagging 17 provincial assembly's seats in the NWFP while the MMA, which had swept the 2002 polls has clinched just eight seats in the NWFP assembly.
This time the ANP, which has a long history for strengthening of democracy and parliament, had not only concentrating on Peshawar valley but the southern and northern parts of the province enabling it to clinch a considerable numbers of seats in the entire province, said central information secretary of ANP, Zahid Khan.
Both the ANP and PPPP have a very long struggle and role for supremacy of parliament and democracy in the country and suffered a lot at the hands of all dictators.
The ANP was in ruling coalition in the province in 1970, 1990 and 1997 with JUI, PML while it was partner of PPP in power in NWFP twice in 1988 and 1993. During its coalition with various political parties the ANP did not opt for chief minister's slot but had powerful ministries.
Unfortunately none of the governments could complete their full terms and had been dismissed prematurely thus depriving the electorates from getting benefits from the party.
This time, however, the ANP's demand for the main slot of chief minister after a long struggle and re-emerging the single largest party in the province has been fulfilled.
Asfandyar Wali Khan said, "Pukhtoon is a moderate and peace-loving nation and wanted peace in their soil. Please give the Pukhtoon children book instead of gun and give them school bags rather than the suicide jackets," he told a jam packed National Assembly while expressing his views to felicitate the newly elected Prime Minister Sayed Yousaf Raza Gilani.
He said that Pukhtoon had been depicted as terrorists but the February 18 elections proved that we are moderate nation and wanted peace in the region. Asfandyar said that talks were the only solution to all problems, adding that, "If we can talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh then why not sit across the table with our own people."
He proposed that talks should be held with Balochs and Fata people to improve the law and order situation in the country. "No military solution can ever be sought of any political issue," he stressed.
The ANP has a long history in Pukhtoon's politics when its legendary leader and Khudai Khidmatgar Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan alias Baacha Khan formed the Khudai Khidmatgar Tehrik (Reformation Movement) to reform the Pukhtoon society by establishing a Madrassah-cum-school in his native town Utmanzai, Charsaddah in 1930.
The colleagues and followers of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who is also known as Sarhadi Gandhi also started struggle to get independence from the British Raj and gave unprecedented sacrifices for liberation of the country.
Abdul Jabbar Khan commonly known as Dr Khan Saheb (elder brother of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan) was the first chief minister of Congress-led government in the NWFP before partition but the government was dissolved after independence of Pakistan and Khan Abdul Qayyum was installed as the chief minister.
The then National Awami Party (NAP) consisting of legendary leaders like Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Abdus Samad Khan Achakzai (father of Mahmood Khan Achakzai),Atta Ullah Khan Mengal, Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Nawab Khair Bukhsh Marri, Sardar Sherbaz Khan Mazari, etc formed coalition governments with JUI in the NWFP and Balochistan after the 1972 general election and emerged the fourth largest party in national politics.
This time a lot of responsibilities lie on the shoulders of Asfandyar Wali Khan and Afrasiab Khattak, who struggled hard to bring the party to the mainstream politics, to fight for the rights of the province and remove the wrong impression of depicting Pukhtoons as the hard-liners and religious extremists.
The province was faced with tremendous problems like law and order, price hike, unemployment, said senior minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour, adding that the NWFP was rich in God gifted resources and its proper utilisation could ensure resolution of all the problems.
He said, the new NWFP government would take the opposition along in resolving the core issues. Development of hydel resources, he said would be given top priority. He expressed the confidence that the new house would live up to the expectation of the masses.
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