ANP to protest outside provincial assembly

Aimal says his party is striving for the supremacy of democracy

PESHAWAR:

Awami National Party (ANP) on Monday announced it will hold a protest demonstration outside the K-P provincial assembly on February 28 at 2 pm.

A press statement issued here by Bacha Khan Markaz said that the Provincial President of ANP Aimal Wali Khan has announced the demonstration which was aimed at condemning the alleged rigging in the February 8 vote.

He said ANP had been struggling for the supremacy of the constitution, democracy, and people’s rule. He appealed to the people of K-P to join ANP protest for real democracy in the country.

Aimal directed all party officials, organizations, and other leaders to make full preparations for the protest demonstration.

Wali said that the chief justice should act and constitute a judicial commission to probe these irregularities and rigging allegations.

“We will take legal action alongside those who were coerced into paying for desired outcomes,” he declared, denouncing the notion that the establishment could dictate the nation’s future.

Read ANP’s Charsadda rally slams ‘poll rigging’

“According to the constitution, they are our guardians, not rulers, and they must cease meddling in politics and democracy, focusing instead on protecting the country’s borders,” he remarked.

“We are grateful that we stand apart from the establishment, and those who sought to keep us out of parliament inadvertently propelled us back to our original roots,” he remarked. “For the past century, ANP’s political approach has evolved, yet its fundamental questions remain unchanged,” he noted.

“History bears witness to the denial of ANP’s rights since its inception, despite Bacha Khan’s efforts that compelled the British government to grant Pakhtuns the right to vote,” he added. “Within a week of Pakistan’s creation, the tragic Babra massacre in Charsadda claimed the lives of 600 innocent and unarmed Pakhtuns,” he lamented.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2024.