ANP expelling even diehard activists to maintain discipline

PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party (ANP) is expelling even diehard leaders and activists with Senator Sitara Ayaz being the latest casualty.

On Saturday, ANP issued show-cause notices to five more party workers in Swabi district for violating party’s discipline.

The ANP provincial President Aimal Wali Khan issued show-cause notices to Muhammad Islam Khan, Ghulam Hassan, Amjad Ali, Faisal Khan and Pir Muhammad Khan.

The party workers were accused of involvement in creating groupings in the party, causing misunderstanding among the workers and damaging the party.

They were asked to clarify their position within seven days of the issuance of the notices. The party workers were warned of strict action in case of not furnishing satisfactory replies to the notices.

Earlier, ANP terminated membership of Senator Sitara Ayaz for violation of party discipline. Before her, the basic membership of senior party leader Abdul Latif Afridi was terminated.

The party had issued notices to Abdul Latif Afridi, Ayaz Wazir and Imran Afridi for violating the party discipline. However, the party was satisfied with the responses of the latter two leaders while the membership of Abdul Latif Afridi was suspended for not responding to the show-cause notice.

ANP had also suspended membership of two other prominent leaders Afrasiyab Khattak and Bushra Gohar. Their membership remained suspended while no further action had been taken.

The party had also expelled Mohsin Dawar, who later became one of the main leaders of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), from its youth wing, National Youth Organization (NYO) for violating party discipline. ANP had also terminated membership of its Bannu district leader Samad Khan. He was also actively participating in the activities of PTM.

ANP provincial general secretary Sardar Hussain Babak told The News that ANP was the only party in Pakistan that had strong organisational structure and implemented the party constitution and discipline strictly.

“The termination of the basic membership of the party’s lone Senator is the proof that the party never compromises on its principles,” Sardar Hussain Babak said, adding, ANP’s policy should be an example for all political parties in the country.

The political parties should work for strengthening the democratic system in the country, he said, adding that strictly implementing the discipline in their party would strengthen democracy in Pakistan. The political leaders should ensure discipline in their party ranks when they demand supremacy of the Constitution in the country, he added. Sardar Hussain Babak said the party had given an opportunity at proper forums to the violators of discipline to explain their position. “No action is taken against those who convince the party leadership that they didn’t violate party discipline,” he said.

When he was asked about the future of Sitara Ayaz, he said she should resign from the Senate forthwith as she had no moral grounds to remain as member of the Upper House of Parliament on the ANP ticket.

Senator Sitara Ayaz told The News that she had not received anything in writing from the party and had got the news from social media. She said currently the country was faced with more serious issues and her membership was not a big deal.

She said she was out of country for 15 days. “I believe my response was very clear both in written form and during personal hearing. I was invited to attend party activities even after replying to the notice. But suddenly I got the news of termination of my ANP membership from the social media,” she explained.

Senator Sitara Ayaz said she was still part of ANP and had no intention of leaving the party. “I have always followed the party discipline,” she said, adding that the allegations against her were vague.

She said that she would take a decision about her future in the Senate after contacting the party leadership and discussing the allegations against her with them.