ANP extends conditional support to 26th Amendment

PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party (ANP) has set conditions for supporting the 26th Constitution Amendment, including renaming of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as “Pakhtunkhwa”.

The consultative meeting of ANP was held at the Bacha Khan Markaz in Peshawar with its President Senator Aimal Wali Khan in the chair.

Members of the Central Executive Council of the party, including Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Hussain Shah Yusufzai, Dr Salim Khan, Engineer Ihsanullah, Mohbat Kaka and others, attended the meeting.

In a press release issued on Tuesday, ANP spokesperson Engineer Ihsanullah said the participants discussed the political situation and proposed amendments to the Constitution. The meeting decided no amendment would be accepted that was against the spirit of the 1973 Constitution and the 18th Amendment.

The Pakhtun nationalist ANP demanded that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be renamed as “Pakhtunkhwa in the proposed amendments. It opposed the trial of civilians and political workers in military courts. “The ANP will oppose the amendments that restrict or curtail personal and basic freedom of individuals,” it said.

The press release added the ANP would also oppose extension in the tenure of government servants as prescribed by the Constitution.

The ANP has welcomed the formation of federal constitutional courts as it was a long-standing demand of the party. The ANP said supremacy of parliament was the need of the hour and reforms would discourage the “doctrine of necessity” in the proposed amendments that would provide more power to parliament.

The ANP would not support or accept any amendment that would weaken the federation or provincial rights in any form, it added.