PESHAWAR: ANP rules out district level seat adjustment
Bureau Report
PESHAWAR, Nov 29: The Awami National Party has said that it will not make seat adjustments at the district level in the coming elections but alliances at the provincial level are possible.
The party’s provincial general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain said at a news conference at the press club here on Thursday that the idea of local seats adjustments had been dropped in view of the bad experience of the previous elections.
He said the ANP would withdraw from the elections if all the opposition parties, including the Pakistan People’s Party and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, joined the boycott.
He said President Pervez Musharraf was not sincere in holding fair and transparent elections but giving an opportunity to the pro-Musharraf forces through a boycott would be a mistake on the part of genuine political parties.
He said Gen Musharraf had announced the plan to hold elections to weaken the protest movement initiated by the political parties, lawyers and the civil society against him.
In reply to a question, he said the ANP had neither accepted Gen Musharraf as president in military uniform nor without it as he had adopted unconstitutional means to gain power.
He said that after removing the president’s military uniform, the democratic forces would now oust him from the presidency through a vigorous movement.
He held Gen Musharraf responsible for bloodshed and unrest on the Pukhtun soil, particularly Swat and Waziristan.
On the occasion, provincial Tehrik-i-Istaqlal chairman Falak Niaz Khattak resigned from his party and joined the ANP.
Mr Khan urged all the political parties to join hands against Gen Musharraf and boycott elections held under his rule.
