ANP opposes party ban, holds PTI accountable for crisis

QUETTA: Awami National Party (ANP) Secretary General Mian Iftikhar Hussian has said that his party was not in favour of banning any party and believed that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) should face the consequences of its own actions.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Mr Hussain, along with ANP’s Provincial President Asghar Khan Achakzai and Central Joint Secretary Rasheed Nasar, said that the PTI does not believe in a political solution for the issues faced by the country. He mentioned that despite accepting the invitation, PTI did not attend ANP’s all parties conference.

He held Imran Khan responsible for the current political crisis, saying that after his removal from the government through a vote of no-confidence,

Mr Khan started blaming the US government and the PDM, alleging a joint conspiracy to oust him from power.

Highlights issues of terrorism, election rigging and unimplemented national action plan

He took various u-turns and “staged the drama of dissolving the Punjab and KP assemblies” to hold elections of his own choice. He said that Mr Khan also blamed former army chief retired Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and the US for the political crisis and brought these issues to courts, which further led to a judicial crisis.

Referring to the new wave of terrorism in the country, Mr Hussain said that it was the PTI government and retired Lt Gen Faiz Hameed who, under an agreement with the new Afghan government, brought 40,000 “trained terrorists” to Pakistan and settled them in KP and other areas.

“Who gave authority to retired Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to make an agreement with the Taliban government to bring TTP members to Pakistan?” he asked, adding that the return of these elements affected peace in Pakistan as they began attacking security forces and civilians in KP and other areas.

“PTI remained a supporter of terrorism,” the ANP secretary general blamed.

Responding to a question, he said that Mr Khan was imposed on the country by the then establishment through its facilitators rigging the elections. He said that ANP and other parties had rejected the election results and had demanded new free and fair elections in the country.

He said that it was ANP and followers of Bacha Khan who stood up against terrorism, despite being targeted by terrorists. He added that Baloch and Pakhtuns were specifically targeted in KP and Balochistan through terrorist activities, resulting in significant harm to the people of Balochistan.

Mr Hussian said that it was a big question that after the APS tragedy, the national action plan was agreed upon but not fully implemented, and the elopements and organisations were not punished.

He strongly condemned the bomb blast in Harnai and demanded the swift arrest of the elements involved in the attack.

He also said that the membership of ANP were currently in progress in Balochistan and the party’s central elections were scheduled to be held in January 2024.