Accepting defeat: ANP to sit in opposition, says Asfandyar

ANP cheif says anti-terrorism stance cost party the election.

ISLAMABAD:

The Awami National Party (ANP) will sit in the opposition benches in the National Assembly and Senate as well as provincial assemblies, its main leader said on Thursday.

Talking to the media after the party’s central executive committee, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan said despite having serious reservations about the outcome of the polls, the party has accepted the results with grace.

Asfandyar blamed his party’s electoral defeat mainly on its anti-terrorism stance.



Despite being a coalition partner in the previous government, the ANP managed to bag just a single seat in the National Assembly in the May 11 elections.

For the sake of peace, however, the party has decided to cooperate with the victorious parties, he said.

He pledged to reclaim the ANP’s mandate, which, according to him, was snatched from the party by acts of “terrorism” in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

“Pre-poll attacks on ANP corner meetings were a conspiracy to keep us out of the electoral process, which eventually made it impossible for us to connect with our voters,” the ANP leader maintained. “I can safely say that it also became one of the reasons for our defeat.”

Asfandyar described the attacks on ANP workers and leaders as a form of pre-poll rigging. As many as 31 attacks were carried out on party workers and leaders and 61 party workers lost their lives.



He recalled that though his party had written a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin G Ibrahim — copies of which were sent to chief justice of the apex court and caretaker prime minister —  there was no response.

“It was almost like we were in a wrestling match, where our hands and legs were tied, while our opponents were left free,” said Asfandyar, adding we thought CEC Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim would judge the contest….but the real referee was Hakimullah Mehsud.

He said the party has formed a central fact-finding committee which would further constitute committees on the provincial and district levels to determine why the party’s fared so badly in the election.

Asfandyar, however, called upon other parties to accept the mandate of the people.

To a question about drone strikes, Asfandyar said ANP was the first to condemn drone attacks. “We condemn drone attacks but we believe suicide attacks are more condemnable than drone attacks and a graver violation of the country’s sovereignty,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2013.