ANP demands removal of governor, CM

PESHAWAR: Expressing reservations about the holding of the free and fair election in their presence, the Awami National Party (ANP) on Sunday demanded the removal of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali and caretaker Chief Minister Mohammad Azam Khan.

According to a press release issued from Bacha Khan Markaz here, the demand was made by ANP provincial President Aimal Wali Khan while speaking at a gathering.

While welcoming the resignations of the caretaker ministers and advisers in the KP government, he said the province had been practically handed over to the Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF).

Aimal Wali said that now the time had come to remove the governor and the chief minister or else a legal and constitutional way would have to be found to do so.

He said the performance of the outgoing caretaker cabinet was even worse than the previous government. Asserting that the ANP did not care for power, he maintained that there was a dire need to ensure the holding of the free and fair election as soon as possible without any interference.

He claimed that a nephew of the caretaker chief minister was a candidate for the JUIF in the Charsadda district. He questioned how free and fair elections could be held in the presence of the two “controversial” persons occupying coveted positions.

He also questioned the appointment of a senator as the caretaker prime minister, saying what message was being conveyed to the nation through such a move. He requested the ones running the state of affairs to make such decisions which could win public trust.