Upcoming general elections: ANP names candidates for majority of seats

PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party is the only political party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which has named candidates for most seats for the upcoming general elections and awarded them tickets to contest the polls.

The party parliamentary board, headed by its provincial president Aimal Wali Khan, has awarded tickets to its potential candidates for National Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly constituencies in those districts of the province where the ANP enjoys support and vote banks.

The Pakhtun nationalist party had secured provincial assembly and National Assembly seats in Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Swat, Bunir, Malakand, Dir, Tor Ghar, Kohat, Karak and Bannu districts in previous general and local government elections.

"Ours is a democratic party and we are ready for elections any time," said ANP provincial general secretary Sardar Hussain Babak, who is also a member of the parliamentary party board of the party.

He said that the parliamentary board had invited applications from the candidates for award of the party tickets a few months back and after interviewing the candidates, checking their party affiliation and background in details, the parliamentary board had awarded tickets to the candidates in different phases. "We have almost completed our nomination for the upcoming general elections. Most of them are new faces," Sardar Babak said.

He added that our veteran politicians and senior leaders like Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Syed Aqil Shah, Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Amir Haider Khan Hoti had already been nominated for their respective seats for National Assembly and Provincial Assembly constituencies.

However, the ANP leader did not respond to a question about the possible seat-adjustment or electoral alliance with any political party in the upcoming general elections in the province.

The ANP had remained in alliance with Pakistan People's Party and experienced seat-to-seat adjustment with different political parties at the district level in the past but Aimal Wali Khan during a news conference had claimed that the party would most probably have a solo flight in the upcoming general elections.

"We have never relied on other support and are confident of securing maximum seats in the upcoming polls," Sardar Hussain Babak said.

He added that the establishment and spy agencies should not back and support any party or group in the next general elections. "Our province and people have suffered from experiences of some elements in the last two elections," he said and added that the ANP's politics, manifesto and agenda called for provincial autonomy, peace, welfare of the general public and good relations with neighboring countries.

Other political parties, including Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazal, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pakistan People's Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Jamaat-e-Islami have asked their local organizations and provincial chapters to finalize candidates and make preparations for the upcoming general elections but none of these political parties had awarded tickets or finalized candidates for the next polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.