Chief of the Awami National Party (ANP), Asfandyar Wali Khan, hailed its election win over hard-liners as a triumph for moderate forces, but called for international aid to stamp out militancy for good. Asfandyar said economic assistance and political reconciliation were the key to success in a region where al Qaeda and militants are holed up.
The ANP could form part of a national coalition government after it deposed the ruling fundamentalists in NWFP in Monday's elections. "The voters have made it clear that they do not want wars and militancy," he told AFP in an interview on Wednesday at his palatial house in Charsadda, as armed police stood guard.
"The foremost priority for us now is to restore peace in this province, which is now known worldwide for producing extremists and terrorists," Asfandyar said.
Police installed scanners at the entrance to Asfandyar's house and thoroughly searched the hundreds of well-wishers he greeted in a traditional Pashtun 'hujra,' or sitting area, in his house.
Asfandyar warned however that keeping momentum against extremism involved international economic assistance and ending the political disenfranchisement of many parts of the conservative province.
"Our people have given their verdict and now the ball is in the court of the international community to support us in our quest to give our children books and pens instead of Kalashnikovs and suicide jackets," he said.
He blamed the ongoing insurgency in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, and a recent uprising led by a militant cleric in the scenic Swat Valley, on the outgoing administration's failure to engage the region's people.
"It is in fact the existing sense of deprivation and disenchantment which forced people to launch a rebellion against the government," Asfandyar said. He was non-committal when asked whether his party would continue to support the Musharraf regime's support for the US-led "war on terror."