What the attack means for QWP’s poll preps

Shakir Khan said the QWP chief’s restricted movement will mildly affect their election campaign.


Mureeb Mohmand May 01, 2015
Aftab Ahmad was set to make crucial announcements during the remaining two meetings which would have defined the course of LG polls in the district. PHOTO: INP

SHABQADAR:


After suffering from setback after setback, the scenario on the political front is not the most encouraging for Qaumi Watan Party. The recent attack on party chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has reinvigorated a new threat for QWP. Formerly called Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao, QWP emerged on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s political scene after ousting Awami National Party from Charsadda in the 2013 general elections. The party was initially part of the K-P government before it broke away in late 2013.


As local government polls approach, QWP has set its eyes on forming a government within the confines of Charsadda and regaining its lost momentum. For this purpose, the party had scheduled three large-scale public gatherings which were to be addressed by Aftab Ahmad. The attack on the first gathering, that claimed two lives on Thursday, has forced the party to play its cards close to its vest.

Former Charsadda MPA Babar Ali Khan said Aftab Ahmad was set to make crucial announcements during the remaining two meetings which would have defined the course of LG polls in the district. “We are weighing our options now that the attack has happened,” he said.

Still hopeful

The party’s Shabqadar tehsil council candidate Shakir Khan said the QWP chief’s restricted movement will mildly affect their election campaign. Talking to The Express Tribune, Shakir was of the view that personal relations take precedence over party affiliations in LG polls. He said the party will defy the odds and was hopeful of a landslide victory in the district.

QWP Shabqadar president Shahid Khan said the new schedule of public meetings is yet to be decided.

Nine lives

Aftab Ahmad has a history of escaping the most deadly attempts on his life unhurt. Security analyst Brigadier (retd) Said Nazeer Mohmand stated the leader held a key position in the Musharraf administration that launched offensives in the tribal areas.

Mohmand was of the view that by targeting the QWP chief, militants want to disrupt the political set up of the country and prove Operation Zarb-e-Azb has not weakened them. “They wish to create a political vacuum in K-P,” he told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2nd, 2015.

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