Awami National Party (ANP) President Asfandyar Wali Khan on Sunday said that his party would not table any new resolution against the Kalabagh Dam and would rather defend the old ones already adopted by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
The decision in this regard has been taken by the provincial executive council of the Awami National Party (ANP) with its KP chief Senator Afrasiab Khattak in the chair, he added.
Addressing a press conference here at the CM House, Asfandyar Wali Khan said that it was better not to reopen the closed chapter as three provinces had opposed the construction of Kalabagh Dam, otherwise it would have serious implications for the federation. The assemblies formed in the wake of party-less elections in 1985, he recalled, had also passed resolutions against the Kalabagh Dam project.
The ANP leader said that the country was passing through a difficult time and raising such controversial matters at this time would weaken the federation. Solidarity and unity in our ranks and files is needed to counter the mindset, which is promoting extremism, fundamentalism and terrorism in the country, he added.
Asfandyar Wali Khan said that the doors of ANP were open for political parties for electoral alliances. "We fought the 2008 general elections without any election alliance and are ready to go for a solo flight this time also on the basis of the performance of ANP government," he added.
He said that nobody could challenge the performance of the ANP government, especially in education, health, communication and energy sectors, which witnessed massive development during the last five years. He claimed that the development made in the KPK from 2008 to 2012 was more than that from 1947 to 2008.
He was confident that the ANP would even win elections from those constituencies, where it had no presence in the past.
He denied the impression that his party's popularity graph had declined during the last five years.
He said that a new committee under the leadership of Senator Afrasiab Khattak had been formed for drafting party's new electoral manifesto. The ANP has fulfilled 99 percent of the electoral promises made with the people in 2008.
About the FATA, he said that tribal people were the major victims of terrorism and extremism and urged the government for more reforms in the tribal areas. He also called for withdrawal of FCR in FATA, which he said, was the legacy of colonial powers. "There is no justification for the FCR after the withdrawal of Britain," he added.
The ANP leader suggested that President Asif Ali Zardari should call a meeting of all the stakeholders, including the ANP, the PPP and the MQM for a durable solution of the Karachi problem. The exodus of terror elements from Waziristan to mega city Karachi has affected the Karachi problem adversely, he said and added that the criminal elements there could not operate without support of the political entities.
He said that any ANP worker found supporting the criminals in Karachi would be suspended from the party. He said that political scene in Karachi would change if the decisions of the Supreme Court in delimitation and voters' lists cases were implemented in letter and spirit.
He said that the anticipated withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan would not yield any positive result rather it would create chaos there. The Afghan problem could be addressed if there was total trust and confidence among the stakeholders which was unfortunately lacking. It was the ANP which for the first time held dialogue with the Taliban. We need to remove the mistrust and work for confidence building measures between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the settlement of the imbroglio, he explained.
To a question, Asfandyar said that the Durand Line was an established fact between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The ANP welcomed every peace initiative which was Afghan-led and Afghan-owned.
Answering another question, he said as per the statements of the President, the Prime Minister and the Federal Information Minister, the elections would be held in time. The current assemblies would complete their tenure in March 2013 and the elections might be held somewhere in May.
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