Intra-party polls: Amir Haider Hoti elected ANP’s provincial president unopposed

Mian Iftikhar Hussain elected general secretary for party’s K-P chapter.

CHARSADDA: Former chief minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti and former information minister Mian Ifitkhar Hussain were elected provincial president and general secretary of Awami National Party’s (ANP) Khyber-Pakthunkhwa chapter, respectively.

Talking to the media after winning the elections unopposed on Tuesday, the ANP leaders said organising the party at the grass-root level would be their top priority. They added ANP would strictly follow the guidelines of their ancestors Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan alias Bacha Khan and Rehbr-e-Tehrik Khan Abdul Wali Khan for the continuation of the democratic process in the country.

They also said their leaders spent their whole lives for the same cause and today ANP was playing an effective role under the leadership of Asfandyar Wali Khan. To a question, Hoti and Hussain said giving protection to the people displaced due to the operation in North Waziristan was the responsibility of the federal and provincial governments. They also referred to certain problems facing the IDPs in the camps. The ANP stalwarts claimed the previous government led by ANP in the province had given due respect to the IDPs of Swat and ensured their repatriation within three months. They said they had also opted for talks with the militants during their government, but the operation was launched after the other side constantly targeted state institutions and innocent people.

Both Hussain and Hoti vowed to support the government in their endeavor for the establishment of peace in the country. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2014.