Another setback: ANP postpones intra-party polls citing security issues

Party leaders claim the process will be completed at district levels by end of May.

PESHAWAR: Citing security concerns, the Awami National Party (ANP) has given a third date for intra-party elections after failing to adhere to schedules announced twice earlier.

ANP acting spokesperson Sadruddin Marwat confirmed the delay is because of the security situation in the province. “The party leaders will first visit the districts in question [to assess the situation],” said Marwat, stressing this did not meant the polls had been halted. “The process is still under way.”

Marwat said around 400 hundred members of the provincial council will elect their provincial and central leadership. At the central level, office-bearers of all the four provinces will participate in the electoral process, he added.

The ANP decided to extend the date for elections after the polls could not be conducted on union council levels in most districts including Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda and Nowshera.

“Once the election at lower tiers is completed in these districts, we will be in a position to hold intra-party elections at district levels, which is necessary for the entire process to be completed successfully,” said an ANP provincial leader on the condition of anonymity.

He added party elections at district levels were supposed to be held in January under the supervision of the provincial election commission and the provincial level elections were to be held in February by the central election commission of the party.

However, the party later announced March 31 as the last date to complete the polling process. “But elections could not be completed in the stipulated time due to the security situation,” reiterated the ANP leader. He added the process of reorganising the party has only been completed in Torghar and Haripur districts of Hazara division.

In response to a question about when the election process was expected to be completed, the party stalwart said the remaining districts will be covered by the end of May. “After the completion of intra-party elections at district levels, elections will be held on provincial and central basis and the process will be finished till the end of July,” he hoped.

The Awami National Party was led the ruling coalition along with Pakistan Peoples Party in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from 2008 till 2013. However, it showed dismal performance in the 2013 general elections after which the central leadership vowed to reorganise and streamline the affairs of the party on a war footing.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2014.