PESHAWAR, Nov 8: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has said that his party was appreciative of the services rendered by armed forces against terrorists and believed in rule of law and role of an independent judiciary.

Reacting to the speeches delivered by Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, he said the ANP regarded parliament as the only forum to outline the foreign policy and safeguard its interest.

Parliament was supreme governing body and a ray of hope for the people of Pakistan, he said, adding that his party had always advocated that all the institutions should work within their constitutional limits because the country couldn’t afford any confrontation between state organs.

All the institutions, he said, were required to strictly follow the constitution and avoid violating the prescribed rules. He said that the ANP had lost 50 of its worker in Karachi on May 12, 2007, when they were campaigning for free judiciary and rule of law and said that free judiciary was extremely important to ensure the supremacy of parliament in the light of the constitution.

It was the domain of the judiciary to review laws by the parliament, he said. The judiciary, he said, was ultimately responsible for safeguarding the parliament. Mr Khan also commended the army for carrying out operation against militants and also appreciated the public support to end terrorism.—Bureau Report