ANP urges govt to convene APC on proposed terror law

CHARSADDA: Awami National Party (ANP) on Monday urged the federal government to convene an all parties conference (APC) to discuss the proposed new law that well deal with the terrorism cases.

The demand was made at a meeting of the top brass of ANP at Wali Bagh. The party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan chaired the meeting.

ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Afrasiab Khattak, party’s provincial president Ameer Haider Hoti, Zahid Khan, Shagufta Malik, Latif Afridi, Bushra Gohar and others were present as well.

The meeting discussed the issues ranging from the prevailing situation of the country to the proposed Fata reforms and census.

The participants of the meeting discussed the statement of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali, in which he had told reporters about the proposed setting up of fast-trial courts to hear cases of terrorism. They urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to convene an APC to take the political leadership into confidence on the setting up of new type of courts and get their input.

The participants of the meeting said the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the need of the hour. They urged the government to make the necessary arrangements to pave the way for the merger.

The participants believed that the wrong figures about the Fata population had been presented in the past census and as a result the area received little share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award and was given less representation in the Parliament.Those at the meeting said that ANP would not tolerate the discrimination being meted out to the tribespeople.

The participants expressed concern over the situation of the displaced families who had returned to North Waziristan and other tribal areas. They urged the federal government to fulfill its responsibility and provide all the facilities to the returning tribespeople. The participants of the meeting approved the recommendations prepared by the ANP for electoral reforms and decided to present these recommendations in the parliamentary committee on electoral reforms.