ANP won't attend NA session until grievances addressed
08 September, 2012
ISLAMABAD: A key ally of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government, the Awami National Party (ANP), on Friday boycotted the current session of the National Assembly to protest the promulgation of the local government ordinance for Sindh. The ANP would not attend the session of the assembly until the government addressed their concerns, MNA Pervez Khan said before staging a walkout from the assembly. The party termed the ordinance a conspiracy to delay the upcoming parliamentary elections, to which, PPP chief whip in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah said that elections would be held on time as it was his party's pledge with the nation. Khan termed the ordinance interference in a provincial matter and warned of serious consequences. "PPP is ready to shatter the country into many pieces and we are not part of it," he said, adding that the PPP had dodged the ANP on the issue as it had not fulfilled its promise of keeping intact the commissionerate system in Sindh. He said his party was not taken into confidence and all was done at the behest of a specific political party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), ignoring over five million Pakhtuns living in the province, the ANP member said. "We have withdrawn our provincial minister from the government and would decide on the future line of action," Khan said and walked out of the session flanked by party members. Khursheed Shah said that similar systems had been enacted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab and it was unfair to question it only in Sindh. He also said that his party had consulted all stakeholders of the province before making the decision. He advised the ANP not to sabotage the system merely because of its rivalry with the MQM. Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) leader Ghaus Baksh Mehar also voiced concern over the decision and said that his party was also not consulted on the issue. End.
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