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| May 31, 2005 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 22, 1426 |
Bilour elected ANP’s Frontier chief
PESHAWAR, May 30: The provincial general council of the Awami National Party on Monday elected MPA Bashir Ahmed Bilour as president of the party’s NWFP chapter amid a boycott by several members of southern districts of the province. Mr Bilour has replaced Begum Nasim Wali Khan, who along with her entire provincial cabinet, was removed from office in March last year by the party’s central executive committee.
After Begum Nasim Wali’s removal, Mr Bilour was appointed head of the interim organizing committee. Newly-elected general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain told Dawn that the entire 18-member cabinet had been elected unopposed for a period of one year, while one slot for vice-president was decided through show of hands.
Several members from the southern districts staged a walkout and boycotted the election process, alleging that their region had not been given due representation in the cabinet. However, party’s general secretary denied the boycott report.
The newly-elected office-bearers are; Bashir Ahmad Bilour (president), Mian Iftikhar Hussain (general secretary), Baz Mohammad (senior vice president), Haider Khan Hoti (deputy general secretary), Imran Afridi, Nek Amal, Zain Mohammad, Karim Babak and Zahira Khattak (vice presidents), Mohammad Ali, Hussain Shah, Naveed advocate, Mufti Naveed and Ahmad Farooq (joint secretaries), Syed Aqil Shah (information secretary), Hamiduddin (finance secretary) and Tajuddin (culture secretary).
Mr Karim Babak was declared successful in a show of hand against Salamat Khan from Kohat district for the post of vice-president. The provincial general council session was convened by Azam Khan Hoti, who also supervised the election process in his capacity as chief election commissioner.
Central President Senator Asfandyar Wali Khan, his brother Sangeen Wali and other senior leaders of the ANP attended the session. Earlier, speaking at the council session, Mr Asfandyar opposed the construction of Kalabagh dam and the military action in Fata.
“ANP will oppose Kalabagh project and will never allow anyone to construct a reservoir there,” he said. He added that Pakistan and Kalabagh dam project could not go along and the rulers would have to choose between the two.
Demanding complete political and financial autonomy for federating units, the ANP president criticized the army action in North and South Waziristan and asked the government to stop bloodshed of Pukhtoons in tribal areas.
He said the federal government had launched an operation against innocent Pukhtoons in the name of an anti-terror operation against Al Qaeda and foreign militants. Through a unanimous resolution, the general council condemned the desecration of the Holy Quran by US troops at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.
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