ANP, PkMAP form alliance to get Pakhtoonkhwa province
[26.Jul.2007 - 11:15]ISLAMABAD: In a significant move, the Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) on Wednesday formed Pakhtoonkhwa National Democratic Alliance (PNDA) to push for establishment of Pakhtoonkhwa province, comprising NWFP, Attock, Mianwali and 11 districts of Balochistan. The decision was taken at the end of a meeting of the committees of the two parties, five members each, which continued for six hours here at the Parliament Lodges. They claimed to be enjoying support of the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement on the issue. The eleven districts of Balochistan, which the Pakhtoons would like to be part of the proposed province, are Chaman, Quetta, Zhob, Sibi, Pishin, Qila Abdullah, Qila Saifullah, Musakhel, Loralai, Balarkan and Ziarat. The two parties will keep their identity intact, as did the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy and now the All Parties Democratic Movement component parties. The meeting also formed a 14-member convening committee, which would be headed by Asfandyar Wali and Mahmood Khan Achakzai on four-month rotation. The ANP head would first lead the body that would draft its constitution and future line of action. The marathon meeting opposed supply of water from Ghazi Barotha, Akori Dam and the Indus to Rawalpindi and Islamabad and called for doing away with such projects, including the proposed Kalabagh dam. It also opposed any external threat or attack on NWFP, Fata or any other part of Pakistan. The forum strongly advocated for running the country as a federation with the Centre retaining only defence, currency, foreign affairs and communications. The Pakhtoon leaders said that the federation should safeguard rights of the federating units on the basis of equality, ensuring the constitutional institutions key role in this context. The Senate should be empowered to have a say like the National Assembly in matters pertaining to no-confidence move against the prime minister, the money bill, and budget, they said. They added that the upper house of parliament should have powers to make appointments of chief justice, chiefs of armed forces, auditor general, chief election commissioner and heads of banks and corporations. Likewise, the role of the military and intelligence agencies in politics must be eliminated and all the state institutions should function within the parameters defined in the Constitution, ensuring the parliament's supremacy. "Pakhtoons should first benefit from their share of water and then rest of the country may be supplied water," emphasised ANP Senior Vice-President Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, who headed the delegation from his party's side. It called for redrawing of constituencies to give true representation to Pakhtoons, cognising their national identity and taking measures for introduction of Pushto language in education and declaring it official language in offices and transaction in the new province. The newly formed committee would also draw the alliance's structure at the provincial, divisional and district levels. Akram Shah of PkMAP read out the seven points on which both sides shared complete unanimity. These are; A Pakhtoonkhwa province should be set up, consisting of NWFP, Attock, Mianwali and Balochistan's 11 districts. However, till its realisation, NWFP and other identified areas should be run in the capacity of complete federating units. The alliance called for ending 'Islamabad and its secret agencies' interference in Afghanistan and crushing Fata-based terrorists, doing away with the target-killing of prominent figures and journalists, eradicating the menace of sectarianism, terrorism and other heinous crimes from Pakhtoon areas. A governor should be appointed from Pakhtoon areas and a chief minister from Baloch-dominated regions and vice-versa, and the provinces should enjoy economic, political and traditional liberties. PkMAP leader Abdul Rahim Mandokhail said that Fata had become a hub of terrorist elements to destabilise Afghanistan and added that other countries' agencies, if any active in Afghanistan, would vanish once Islamabad did away with those entrenched in the tribal areas. "Outside forces under the banner of Nato in Afghanistan enjoyed the United Nations Security Council mandate, therefore, any action against them is totally uncalled for and provocative," he maintained. To a question, Dr Inayatullah said that Pakhtoons had been forced to form an alliance in view of the increasing dangers to their very existence. "If the agencies are not reined in, Pakistan could become another Iraq one day," he said to another question. Those who attended the meeting were Mohammad Afzal Khan, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Latif Afridi, , Dr Inayatullah Khan, Commander Khudaidad, Abdul Rahim Mandokhail, Nawab Ayaz Jogezai, Akram Shah, Dr Said Alam Mehsud, Mukhtiar Yusufzai and Gillani Khan. The News International Thursday, July 26, 2007, Rajab 10, 1428 A.H.( Mumtaz Alvi)
- The News
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