Parliament best forum to resolve political issues: Asfandyar

CHARSADDA: Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan has asked politicians to resolve the political issues through parliament instead of filing petitions in courts.

Speaking at a public rally here on Sunday, he said that his party believed in democracy, democratic institutions and a powerful parliament.“Politicians should work for strengthening the democratic institutions,” he added.

The ANP chief said that politicians had surrendered the powers of parliament to the judiciary that had lowered the prestige of parliamentarians. “[General] Zia had distorted the 1973 Constitution by including articles 62 and 63,” he said.

He claimed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif opposed the removal of these articles when the 18th Constitutional Amendment was tabled in the National Assembly.Asfandyar Wali Khan said that none of the politicians fulfilled the requirements under the articles 62, 63. He said that the country was facing difficult situation on three borders. He urged the politicians to fulfill their responsibilities.

The ANP chief reacted to the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq’s remarks about the Khudai Khidmatgar movement founder Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s resting place. “It is unfortunate that the elements who fought the Afghan jihad for US dollars are speaking ill of Pakhtuns’ leaders,” he added. Asfandyar Wali asked the government to merge Fata into the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before the 2018 general election.