ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan has reiterated resistance to the annulment of any finance related section of the 18th Constitutional Amendment and termed any move in this regard against the interest of the country. He was addressing a function in connections with the death anniversary of Bacha Khan and Abdul Wali Khan at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The ANP chief said they will not accept presidential form of government in any circumstances, which he attributed to part of the series of conspiracy to consider only Punjab province as Pakistan. Such conspiracy he said would be opposed by them with tooth and nail.
He paid rich tributes to the services of Bacha Khan and Wali Khan in struggle of independence and democracy in the country and said the political forecast given by their elders 40 years back have been proved true. However, unfortunately, they were awarded the names of traitor.
The veteran politician said the beginning of the Ruddul Fasad operation is actually the recognition of the political maturity of their leadership.
Regarding Afghan peace process, he termed the inclusion of Afghan government in peace negotiation essential and asked both Peoples' Republic of China and Republic of Russia to play their effective towards that goal.
Asfandyar Wali Khan was of the opinion that without peaceful Afghanistan, thinking about peace in Afghanistan is impossible. He said in case of the failure of negotiations, Pakistan will be the ultimate victim.
ANP chief said Pakhtuns were targeted with discriminatory treatment in every period of government. He said the champions of the promotion of friendly relations through opening Kartar Pur corridor had adopted silence over the closure of Torkham border.
The veteran politician said after the abolition of old system in merged districts of the erstwhile FATA the government had kept itself aloof from the area and no new law is being implemented there.
The situation, he said is creating hardships for the tribesmen while delimitations for elections in merged districts are also controversial. He said the making of only one provincial constituency for the area beginning from Peshawar till D.I. Khan is actually an attempt of escape.
He said ANP has fought a long struggle for the giving identification to the province. He said after getting success in the battle in this regard, they had given that identification to Pakhtuns.
The ANP chief was also critical of the dual standard adopted in the name of accountability in the country, saying it would trigger negative impacts. He expressed surprise that Nawaz Sharif was used to present before Joint Investigation Team (JIT) over the matter of inheritance, but Aleema Khan was pardoned only after payment of penalty. He said that the current accountability is a stigma on the role of the national anti-graft agency.
He said those who were beating the drums of his properties in Malaysia and Abu Dubai themselves facing similar charges. Similarly, he said that corruption to the tone of billions of rupees in Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project is invisible for the anti-graft agencies. Expressing concern over the ongoing wave of price-hike, the ANP chief said that persistent increase in the power tariff is making the lives of the people miserable.