Aimal Wali says ANP approached to form new Opposition alliance

• ANP decides to mobilise party for local bodies polls.
• Aimal Wali says certain elements within PDM dominating Opposition alliance.
• Condemns chaos and pandemonium in National Assembly by treasury benches. 

PESHAWAR: After stepping out of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the Awami National Party (ANP) has been approached to form a new alliance, it emerged Wednesday.

Aimal Wali Khan, ANP’s provincial president, told media persons after a party meeting that they parted ways with the PDM due to what he believed was the dominating attitude of certain elements within the group.

Flanked by senior party leader Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and central general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, he said some political parties had approached their leadership to launch a new political alliance.

“The party had not taken a final decision on it yet,” he added, without elaborating who had approached the ANP.

Both PPP and ANP had quit from the PDM after they were issued show cause notices to seek help from the Balochistan Awami Party for the election of Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani as Senate Opposition leader.

Sharing details about the decisions taken during the meeting, Khan said the executive council members of the party decided to mobilise the party organisations and workers at the divisional level across the province.

“The ANP will take part in the upcoming local government polls in the province,” he added.

NA ruckus condemned

Khan condemned the chaos and pandemonium in the National Assembly by the treasury benches during Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif’s speech.

He said that the ‘selected’ and ‘selectors’ were trying to defame and damage the genuine politicians, parliament and other democratic institutions.

“The ANP has already rejected the federal annual budget 2021-22 presented by a non-elected person at the behest of the International Monetary Fund.”

‘KP share in budget reduced’

He said the share of KP had been reduced compared to the last financial year, while the province had not been promised to pay its due shares and arrears in the account of net hydel profit.

The ANP leader criticized the KP government for its alleged silence over the reduction of the province share in the federal budget and depriving the merged districts of national resources.

He said the federal government had promised that 3% share would be given to the former tribal areas in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, while a 10-year developmental plan for the tribal districts would be implemented as per the amendment in the Constitution.

However, he added, that the federal government had neither announced the NFC Award nor reflected the promised sum for the tribal district in the annual budget.