PESHAWAR: Member National Assembly (MNA) Mohsin Dawar and some of his colleagues in the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) on Wednesday formed a new political party called National Democratic Movement (NDM).
The office-bearers of the NDM included Mohsin Dawar as central organiser, Muzzamil Shah as general Secretary, Jamila Gilani as information secretary and Abdullah Bhittani as joint secretary. The announcement was made at a press conference, which was attended by former senator Afrasiab Khattak, former MNA Bushra Gohar and others.
The leaders of NDM vowed to work for provincial autonomy, supremacy of the parliament, inclusion of youth in national affairs and reducing the non-development expenditures and allocating funds to education, health and human development.
They said the NDM would strive for the establishment of the federal democratic parliamentary system in the country. The state is responsible for providing protection and opportunities to the citizens without any religious bias, they added.
They said the state and government’s powers would not be absolute and they would be subservient to the public through the constitution.
The NDM believed that Pakistan’s Constitution had given unjust powers to a province due to its large population which was violating the rights of the smaller provinces and nationalities and this situation needed to be rectified. They said Pakistan was a country with diverse nationalities, languages, and religions and included units with distinct identities and histories.