ANP Sindh suspends membership of violators of party discipline

After facing a humiliating defeat in the July 25 general elections, the Awami National Party’s Sindh chapter (ANP) has started taking action against its leaders and members for violating party discipline during the polls.

On Thursday the party suspended the basic membership of a number of its senior members. Several other members have been suspended for one to two months.

ANP leaders said a committee had been formed to investigate complaints of violation of party discipline during the general elections. The body’s recommendations were then sent to ANP Sindh chief Shahi Syed.

The leaders whose basic membership has been suspended include Sakhi Sarwar, Dr Murad Khan and Muhammad Amjad, all of whom are senior members of the party and have served on key positions in District West.

The membership of ANP District West general secretary Arshad Sohail, Khalid Khan and Anwar Zeb has been suspended for a month, while district leader Usman Ghani’s membership has been suspended for two months. The membership of Saleem Shah of District Malir has also been suspended for a month.

An announcement issued by the party stated that the committee had recommended suspending the said office-bearers, and that ANP Sindh General Secretary Younas Buneri has released the notification for their suspension.

The ANP had performed appallingly in July’s polls, as the party could not secure a large number of votes from any of the constituencies where it had fielded its candidates.

Even the party’s provincial chief, who contested from two National Assembly constituencies, namely NA-250 (SITE, Qasba Colony) and NA-238 (Landhi Industrial Area, Ibrahim Hyderi), lagged behind in the electoral race.

Analysts believe the party had performed well in Karachi only in the 2008 elections. Since then it has been on a downward spiral, performing dismally in the 2013 polls, in the 2015 local government elections and in this year’s national electoral race.