By-elections: ANP announces candidates

Claims it will prove it is not easy to defeat the party.

PESHAWAR:

With a vow to sweep the upcoming by-elections, the Awami National Party (ANP) on Saturday announced its final list of candidates contesting in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

During a provincial cabinet meeting, the ANP decided to field Ghulam Ahmad Bilour for NA-1 Peshawar, Daud Khattak for NA-5 Nowshera and Sitara Ayaz on NA-13 Swabi.

On vacant provincial assembly seats, ANP announced it would field Ahmad Bahadar Khan for PK-23 Mardan-I and Hussain Ali Shah Hussaini for PK-42 Hangu. Whereas for PK-27 Mardan-II, the seat which fell vacant after independent MPA Imran Mohmand died in a suicide blast, the ANP would not be fielding any candidate.

Earlier, Jamshed Khan Mohmand, the elder brother of slain MPA had announced to contest for the seat.

“The party refrained from announcing candidates for NA-25 DI Khan cum Tank, NA-27 Lakki Marwat and PK-70, Bannu-I because of the on-going talks with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) for seat adjustment,” said ANP Provincial Information Secretary Malak Ghulam Mustafa.



A coordination committee headed by ANP spokesperson Mian Iftikhar Hussain will form district coordination committees for by-election campaigns.

ANP parliamentary leader in the K-P Assembly Sardar Hussain Babak, Tajuddin Khan, Arbab Muhammad Tahir Khan Khalil, Mian Mushtaq Ahmad and Shagufta Malik are also members of the said coordination committee.

According to a statement issued by the ANP media cell, its leaders have urged party activists to ‘resist and foil anyone’s attempt at trying to rig the by-polls or influence results’.

Information secretary Mustafa told The Express Tribune, “In the by-elections we will prove it is not easy to defeat ANP democratically.” He also lashed out at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for its  “failure to live up to its pledges of establishing peace, ending terrorism and the electricity crisis in the province”.

According to the schedule announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan, by-elections will be held on August 22. Candidates from K-P will contest for five National Assembly and four provincial assembly seats.

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