Afridi denies NAPP’s merger with ANP

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party Pakistan (NAPP)’s Central Secretary General Abdul Latif Afridi on Sunday said the NAPP was still an independent entity and it had not merged with any other political party.

While addressing a press conference at the Press Club, he said that Saturday’s announcement regarding NAPP’s merger with the Awami National Party (ANP) by Ajmal Khattak at Wali Bagh was the decision of “an individual who had no support of NAPP’s central and provincial leaders”. He said Mr Khattak only had the support of Amin Khattak from Sindh and Neelam Shah from the Punjab.

He said Mr Khattak had the right to join the ANP, but his move did not solve the problem of a ‘greater alliance’ among Pakhtun nationalist and democratic forces. He said the NAPP leadership had nominated Mr Khattak to talk to ANP’s Rahbar Khan Abdul Wali Khan to unite all Pakhtun nationalist, democratic and progressive leaders like Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Aftab Khan Sherpao, Fanoos Gujar, Afzal Khan, Kamil Bangash and others for the formation of a powerful greater alliance.

Mr Afridi said NAPP leaders had also proposed a new leadership and new programme for the alliance keeping in view the changing global, regional and domestic scenarios. He said the party’s central council should approve the central committee’s decisions.

“This did not happen in this case and the party president made a decision on his own to merge NAPP into ANP, which is not in accordance with the party’s constitution.” He said the party still existed and appealed to all the nationalist and democratic forces to join the NAPP.

Mr Afridi welcomed the proposed Indo-Pak talks and demanded the immediate resolution of the Kashmir problem.

Prominent among the party leaders who attended the news conference were, Central Senior Vice President Zahir Shah, FATA President Shahabuddin, Senior Vice President Hashim Raza and Provincial General Secretary Sardar Hussain Bacha.

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