KARACHI, March 6: Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan has reiterated the party's belief that a strong Pakistan and a strong Centre are contradictory to each other and that the country could survive only as a working federation in letter and spirit.

He was speaking at a press conference after a meeting of the ANP's central executive council held at the party office at Bacha Khan Chowk here on Saturday.

The meeting dealt at length on the prevailing situation in the country following adoption of the 17th amendment to the Constitution.

Mr Khan told newsmen that the council meeting reaffirmed its resolve to continue the struggle for the supremacy of the parliament and rule of law in the country.

He said the party was of the view that Pakistan could become strong only if all the federating units were happy and none of them developed sense of deprivation.

"The 17th amendment has changed political realities as under the sixth schedule of the Constitution, all districts in the country are attached to the Centre and after their detachment, one could not conceive the concept of provinces.

"Likewise, election of the President through a vote of confidence is negation of the procedure laid down in the Constitution for the purpose."

Flanked by other party leaders - Ehsan Wayne, Zahid Khan, Wajid Ali Khan and Amin Khattak - the ANP chief said that in this whole drama, MMA cold not absolve itself by maintaining that it had not participated in the vote of confidence. The MMA, he added, deserved condemnation for committing excesses with the federating units.

He welcomed political dialogue with India to improve bilateral ties and recalled that the party had been demanding such a dialogue for the last 55 years. The ANP, he said, had also welcome Tashkent talks after 1965 war and Simla talks after 1970 war as the party believed that problems could be solved on negotiating table.

Referring to Afghanistan, Mr Khan pointed out that he had on record said in parliaments that without restoration of peace in Afghanistan, Pakistan could not maintain peace on its territory. Nor could it maintain stability and progress.

Demanding a halt to the ongoing operation in tribal areas, the ANP chief said that the Al Qaeda issue was created by those who had patronized them. However, he regretted, its price was being paid by Pakhtoons who were first made to suffer in Afghanistan and now in FATA and North and South Waziristan.

He pointed out that although the Al Qaeda members handed over to the US or languishing in our prisons, were arrested from big cities like Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad, the government was conducting the operation in tribal areas.

He condemned the Ashura day tragedy in Quetta and said there were two aspects of the incident. One was the firing on an Ashura procession and the other was the violence that followed and bazaars were set on fire depriving people of their livelihood.

Mr Khan demanded payment of compensation also to those whose shops were set ablaze due to the negligence by the authorities.

Expressing concern over skyrocketing prices of essential commodities which have made the life of middle class miserable, the ANP council's meeting was pessimistic about any improvement in the situation in future.

Regrading decision to join ARD alliance, the council constituted a committee to sort out modalities with the ARD leadership at the level of the quantum of autonomy to the provinces as the ARD Charter was not clear in this regard.

In reply to a question, Mr Khan said that the party's central leaders expressed their full solidarity with the opponents of the Kalabagh dam and Greater Thal Canal projects and the Anti-Kalabagh Dam and Anti-Thal Canal Front. For us, he said, after adoption of the unanimous resolutions by three of the provincial assemblies, this was now a dead issue.

Responding to another question, he said that his party had been striving for 'federation' and not for 'confederation'. The seminar which had been organized by PONM in Islamabad was held to discuss the LFO issue and adoption of the 17th amendment to the Constitution. The ANP, he added, did not subscribe to the PONM idea of a 'confederation'.

Regarding registration of cases against him and other leaders who had participated in the PONM seminar in Islamabad, he said if all constitutional and legal means of expression of dissent by people from smaller provinces would be closed, they would have left with no option but to adopt unconstitutional and illegal means.