PESHAWAR: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has said his party will not become part of any move to demand resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Shaif and, instead, wait for the investigation ordered by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case.

“There is so much hullabaloo and demands coming up that the prime minister should resign. Wasn’t there unanimity that whatever the court decides will be acceptable to all? Why not wait for the investigation ordered by the Supreme Court,” he said while criticising the opposition parties without naming anyone.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), the ruling Pakistan Muslim League’s arch rival, as well as the main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party and some other parties are demanding the prime minister’s resignation in the wake of the court verdict.

Asfandyar calls for arrest of Mashal’s killers, award of punishment to them

After holding a consultative meeting with leaders of his party, Mr Khan spoke at a press conference here on Wednesday to declare his party’s stance on the political situation emerging after the Supreme Court ordered the setting up a joint investigation team to probe allegations against the prime minister and his children related to the Panama Papers leaks.

“The ANP is not going to be part of any movement to demand the prime minister’s resignation. We stand by the Supreme Court and will wait for the findings of the investigation ordered by it,” Mr Khan said, adding that his party would not become part of the “Go Nawaz Go” movement being launched by the PTI on Friday to mount pressure on the prime minister to resign.

“In one room they were celebrating by distributing sweets and in the other room the same party was criticising the SC decision. At least they should have digested it [the verdict] first”, Mr Khan said while referring to the PTI’s initial mixed reaction to the SC verdict.

He also talked about another important issue that was discussed in the ANP meeting. He said that the ANP demanded that the Supreme Court ensure the arrest of the killers of Mashal Khan, who was lynched to death on April 13 over blasphemy charges in Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan. The institute, named after the ANP’s founder leader, was set up during the previous provincial government of the party.

“We are happy that the Supreme Court chief justice wanted himself to look into the investigation into the killing but we still demand that Mashal Khan’s killers be arrested and punished,” Mr Khan said. He recalled that he had earlier said that even if his own son was involved in the brutal killing, he should not be spared and should be hanged in public so that no one would dare commit such a heinous crime again.

Answering a question on the confessional statement of Ehsanllah Ehsan, former spokesman of the banned Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, the ANP chief said that one could not even imagine the kind of punishment for those who had taken hundreds of innocent lives, mostly of Pukhtun people, that would dispense justice.

“Every punishment looks meagre given the severity of their crime as they have killed so many people,” he said.

ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain and other leaders, including Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Bushra Gohar and Amir Haider Hoti, were present at the press conference.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2017