Asfandyar Wali says ANP will continue to campaign peacefully

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party President Asfandyar Wali Khan, while speaking to media on Wednesday, remarked that the party will continue to campaign for the upcoming General Election 2018, a day after 20 people, including party leader Haroon Bilour, were killed in suicide explosion in Peshawar.

The suicide attack occurred during a party corner meeting in Yakatoot neighbourhood of Peshawar.

He shared that the party will resume campaigning after a three-day peaceful protest. The party’s main focus is to become victorious in the elections, he said, adding “We have to contest elections and win now.”

Regarding the suicide attack, he said: “these are terrorists we are dealing with. You can’t compare umpires with terrorists. The main problem is that they [Taliban] know who all of us are but we don’t know about them."

Instead of attacking us from the back, our rivals should go head-to-head against us, he shared. 

The deceased ANP leader Haroon Bilour was set to contest the July 25 elections from Peshawar's PK-78 constituency. 

The son of Bashir Ahmed Bilour, a senior ANP figure who, himself, was martyred in a suicide attack in 2012 after a party meeting, Haroon was rushed to the hospital in a critical condition but succumbed to his wounds shortly after.

He was 47 years old.

ECP postpones polls in PK-78

Following the incident, the Election Commission of Pakistan postponed the polls in PK-78 (Peshawar-XIII) constituency.

The polls have been postponed due to the death of the PK-78 candidate, the electoral body said, adding that the new schedule for the said constituency will be announced later.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council has also announced a three-day mourning in light of the attack, with lawyers beginning the boycott of court proceedings today.