MARDAN: Provincial president of Awami National Party Ameer Haider Hoti said on Thursday that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had been fighting for power in Punjab, which was affecting the wellbeing of Pakhtuns of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He was speaking at the party workers convention at PK-23 here. ANP district president Himayatullah presided over the convention, which was also attended by MPA Ahmad Khan Bahadar, Arshid Khan and Latifur Rahman.

Mr Hoti said that they would not accept the upper hand of Punjab and Sindh provinces without getting due rights for the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He claimed that decisions about the future of KP people were being made at Banigala in Islamabad.

He said that retired Justice Fakharudin G Ibrahim was the chief election commissioner for the whole country except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsood did the same job here in the last general elections.

He said that ANP workers were now eagerly waiting for elections and this time people would see red tsunami through ballots. He advised the PTI chief to focus on developmental activities as people would support him in this regard.

Mr Hoti said that he as chief minister had provided land for Imran’s cancer hospital in Hayatabad Township in Peshawar due to his services in the social welfare field so that Pakhtuns could benefit of the facility.

He said that the PTI-led provincial government had failed to fulfil its promises about providing cheap justice, change, eradication of price-hike and uniform education system in the province.

Mr Hoti said that the PTI chief had been making claims of rigging only in few constituencies, while elections all over KP were rigged to keep ANP out of power.

He lamented that other political parties were holding public meetings before the elections while they were busy attending funerals of their activists killed by militants.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2014