PESHAWAR, Oct 1: Senior leader of Awami National Party Senator Azam Khan Hoti has demanded of the party chief, Asfandyar Wali Khan, to resign owing to ANP’s defeat in the last general elections.

Addressing a press conference here Tuesday, he said that he didn’t want to create rift in the party or set up a forward bloc. He said that he was just reminding Asfandyar that in the past ANP leadership had tendered resignation after facing defeat in general elections.

Mr Hoti has been issued a show-cause notice by the ANP organising committee for issuing a statement against Asfandyar Wali Khan last week. He said that he had supported Asfandyar as party chief for long but he had lost confidence of workers that resulted in the worst electoral defeat.

Mr Hoti, a former federal minister, said that in the past several presidents of the party resigned after facing a similar situation. He said that he had been affiliated with the party for 40 years during which he played central role to communicate the message of Abdul Ghaffar Khan to the masses and strengthen the party.

Mr Hoti said he had rendered great sacrifices to get rights of Pakhtuns. He said that he was a staunch follower of Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Abdul Wali Khan and would follow their philosophy. He said that he never wanted to gain any top position in the party and would not do so in the future.

“ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan is not competent to run the party affairs and his insistence to stick to his position is in contravention with the previous precedents,” Mr Hoti said.

Similarly, he said, he had no intentions to create rift in the party or get the top slot.

Internal rifts and groupings had harmed the party in the past and in the general elections, he added.

Mr Hoti said that he was ready to answer anyone in the party. He also lashed out at Senator Afrasiab Khattak, the provincial president of ANP, and said that he changed political loyalties six times. “Khan Abdul Wali Khan has written about Senator Khattak in his book,” he said.

He urged ANP workers and leaders to take stock of the situation and persuade Asfandyar to keep aloof from the party affairs in the best interests of the party.

Mr Hoti, the brother-in-law and step-maternal uncle of Asfandyar Wali, also warned of sever reprisals if anyone in the party tried to throw mud at him.