Change of heart: Disgruntled ANP leader backs PTI candidates

ANP office bearers ask party to take disciplinary action against Arbab Zahir.

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party’s (ANP) disgruntled leader and former lawmaker Arbab Zahir has announced his support for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) candidates contesting elections from NA-4 and PK-10, said a statement issued by the PTI’s media cell on Monday.

Zahir, who has been elected twice from NA-4 on an ANP platform, has considerable influence in the constituency which constitutes Peshawar’s rural areas.

“The support of a seasoned ANP leader for PTI candidates has strengthened the party’s position in the area,” said PTI’s former provincial information secretary Shah Farman. “The PTI will emerge as the largest political force in the country after May 11 elections,” added Farman who is contesting from PK-10.



When contacted, ANP office bearers said they have asked the party’s leadership to take disciplinary action against Zahir for betraying the party at such a crucial time. “He has violated the party’s discipline by lending support to Gulzar Khan (PTI’s candidate for NA-4) and action must be taken against him,” said the ANP president in PK-11, Noor Rehman.

Rehman alleged Zahir was supporting Gulzar, a former bureaucrat, due to their friendship.

Unlike the urban areas of Peshawar, PTI is less popular in the rural areas. However, with Rehman’s support and influence, the party can tap into ANP’s vote bank in
the region.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2013.