Making a comeback: Nasim takes on senior ANP leadership
Says she will convene a Grand Jirga to elect a new leader, calls on Red Shirts to help her save the party.
Nasim Begum reminded workers of the sacrifices she made when the party was still called National Awami Party. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD IQBAL/EXPRESS
PESHAWAR:
On Wednesday, senior Awami National Party (ANP) leader, Begum Nasim Wali Khan attacked party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan and asked for a Grand Jirga to be convened to elect a new leader.
Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club, Begum Nasim not only cast doubts over the party’s membership drive, but also asked the senior ANP leadership to ‘spare the party’, saying she will convene a grand jirga to elect a new leader.
A party worker read out a long statement on her behalf, wherein, she stated she had been forced to stay away from the party’s affairs for many years. It also mentioned her role in the party after the Bhutto government banned National Awami Party (NAP) - precursor to the present day ANP - and put its leadership behind bars. Nasim said at the time when all of NAP’s leadership was behind bars, it was she who led the party. She said it was under her leadership that the party won 13 seats in 1988, 23 in 1990 and 32 in 1997. Nasim added she was meticulously ousted from the party due to the illness of her husband, and then ANP chief, Abdul Wali Khan.
Nasim said during the 2008 to 2013 rule of ANP in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the party was completely in the control of one group, which embarked on large-scale corruption, which sold jobs and contracts and freely accepted bribes. She alleged the Chief Minister House and its annexure was turned into a market for corruption, and expressed regret that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government had not yet taken any action to investigate the corruption of the previous ANP government.
Nasim said despite her age, she has come forward to stop ANP’s total collapse and has taken this challenge as the last political battle of her life. She criticised Asfandyar Wali Khan and said he had opted for the safety of the bunker after a blast, which is unbecoming of a Pukhtun leader. She called upon the Red Shirts to help her save ANP, adding that Asfandyar and his followers should disassociate themselves from the party.
She also said after meeting with activists, she will convene a grand jirga, where party activists will choose a leader for themselves.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2013.
On Wednesday, senior Awami National Party (ANP) leader, Begum Nasim Wali Khan attacked party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan and asked for a Grand Jirga to be convened to elect a new leader.
Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club, Begum Nasim not only cast doubts over the party’s membership drive, but also asked the senior ANP leadership to ‘spare the party’, saying she will convene a grand jirga to elect a new leader.
A party worker read out a long statement on her behalf, wherein, she stated she had been forced to stay away from the party’s affairs for many years. It also mentioned her role in the party after the Bhutto government banned National Awami Party (NAP) - precursor to the present day ANP - and put its leadership behind bars. Nasim said at the time when all of NAP’s leadership was behind bars, it was she who led the party. She said it was under her leadership that the party won 13 seats in 1988, 23 in 1990 and 32 in 1997. Nasim added she was meticulously ousted from the party due to the illness of her husband, and then ANP chief, Abdul Wali Khan.
Nasim said during the 2008 to 2013 rule of ANP in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the party was completely in the control of one group, which embarked on large-scale corruption, which sold jobs and contracts and freely accepted bribes. She alleged the Chief Minister House and its annexure was turned into a market for corruption, and expressed regret that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government had not yet taken any action to investigate the corruption of the previous ANP government.
Nasim said despite her age, she has come forward to stop ANP’s total collapse and has taken this challenge as the last political battle of her life. She criticised Asfandyar Wali Khan and said he had opted for the safety of the bunker after a blast, which is unbecoming of a Pukhtun leader. She called upon the Red Shirts to help her save ANP, adding that Asfandyar and his followers should disassociate themselves from the party.
She also said after meeting with activists, she will convene a grand jirga, where party activists will choose a leader for themselves.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2013.