Awami National Party

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Not to be confused with National Awami Party or Awami League.
Awami National Party
عوامی نيشنل پارٹی
عوامي نېشنل پارټي
Pashto nameعوامي نېشنل پارټي (lit. اولسي ملي ګوند)
AbbreviationANP
PresidentAimal Wali Khan
General SecretaryMuhammad Saleem Khan[1]
SpokespersonEhsan Ullah Khan[2]
FounderAbdul Wali Khan
FoundedJuly 28, 1986; 38 years ago (1986-07-28)
Preceded byNAP (Wali)
HeadquartersBacha Khan Markaz, Peshawar
Student wingPakhtun Students Federation 
Youth wingNational Youth Organization
IdeologyLiberal socialism[3]
Pashtun nationalism[4][5]
Secularism[5]
Political positionCentre-left[6] to left-wing[5]
National affiliationPONM
PDM
ColorsMahogany  
SloganPeace, Democracy, and Development
Senate
3 / 96
KPK Assembly
2 / 145
Balochistan Assembly 
3 / 65
Election symbol
Lantern
Party flag
Website
Official website

The Awami National Party (ANP;

social egalitarianism.[8]

ANP was the largest Pashtun nationalist party in Pakistan between 2008−2013 with influence lying in the Pashtun dominated areas in and around

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. They governed the province from 2008 to 2013 but lost to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
in the assembly election of 2013.

History

Pakistan Peoples Party's platform and the National Awami Party, forming the largest socialist alliance with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1970. However, the alliance fell apart and its members joined the Pakistan National Alliance
.

In 1972, the party was strong enough to form coalition provincial governments, with its partner the

Zia-ul-Haq subsequently withdrew the charges against the NAP. Wali Khan was released, joined the National Democratic Party, and ultimately formed the Awami National Party. In the meantime, Prime Minister Bhutto was imprisoned and executed in April 1979.[9]

Formation and struggle for democracy

Main article: Democracy in Pakistan

The Awami National Party (Awami means "people's"), which depends on ethnic

National Democratic Party.[9]

The

Movement for Restoration of Democracy
.

Alliance with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)

Since its inception, the ANP has been an important ally of the

military action that brutally failed. The Awami National Party later formed an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League
(PML) in early June 1989 which led to a formal split in the party with many activists allying with the PPP.

After the election of Nawaz Sharif in 1990, the ANP again formed a coalition with former rivals PML. This alliance proved longer lasting, surviving till 1998 when it collapsed over differences over the building of Kalabagh Dam and renaming the province NWFP to Pakhtunkhwa. It won six seats in the National Assembly in the 1990 elections. In the 1993 national elections, the party won three seats in the National Assembly.[9] It then joined the Grand Democratic Alliance, campaigning against the Sharif government's policies. After Nawaz Sharif's overthrow by Pervez Musharraf, the party stayed an active member of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, until the 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States, when it left the alliance over supporting NATO's ouster of the Taliban government. The party's reputation was damaged in this period following the arrest of former Federal Minister and senior party leader Azam Khan Hoti.[10]

In the 2002 elections, the party struck up an alliance with the PPP. However, both parties were electorally routed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by the religion-political alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) riding on a wave of anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.[11]

In the

2008 parliamentary elections, the ANP dominated the far-right wing coalition, the MMA, a party formed by a coalition of Islamic movements in 2002. The ANP has also won provincial seats in Balochistan and in Sindh for the first time in 15 years. It formed a coalition government with the Pakistan People's Party
in all three provinces. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ANP had its first chief minister since 1948.

The strongholds of the ANP are in the Pashtun dominated areas of Pakistan, particularly in the Valley of Peshawar area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and it has traditionally dominated Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera, Peshawar, and Swabi areas of central KPK. On the other hand, the city of Karachi in Sindh province hosts one of the largest Pashtun populations in the world, but the ANP only had two seats in 2011, whereas the number of Pashtuns present would predict them having "up to 25 seats".[12]

Recent events

Main articles:
Pakistani Senate election, 2015

In May 2008, Asfandyar Wali Khan made an unannounced visit to the United States in which he and his delegate held high-level meetings with top U.S. officials. A source explained that "the delegation is here as part of a visitors programme that brings important people from other nations for meeting US civil and military officials and members of the civic society." This was Wali Khan's second such visit to the United States, a country where he has several relatives.[13]

In the last decade, hundreds of members of the ANP have been assassinated or became victims of target killings.[14][15][16] Most of the attacks occurred in the Karachi and Peshawar areas.[17][18] An ANP rally in Quetta was subject to a bomb blast on 13 July 2012. The blast killed six people and injured 12 others. It was speculated that a cycle parked behind the stage was the probable cause. The dead included two children as well.[19]

The party has also accused Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and of being complicit in the Taliban attacks.[20]

On 10 July 2018, during the

Constituency PK-78 were postponed to an disclosed date by the Election Commission.[21]

Electoral history and performance
General elections Voting percentile % Voting turnout Seating graph Presiding chair of the party Parliamentary position
1988
 2.1% #4 409,555
2 / 207
 Abdul Wali Khan In alliance with PPP
1990
 1.7% #5 356,160
6 / 207
 Abdul Wali Khan | In Opposition
1993
 1.7% #6 335,094
3 / 207
 Abdul Wali Khan Remain in Neutrality
1997
 1.9% #5 357,002
10 / 207
 Abdul Wali Khan In Opposition
2002
 1.0% #8 –
0 / 272
 Abdul Wali Khan —
2008
 2.0% #6 700,479
10 / 272
 Asfandyar Wali Khan In alliance with PPP
2013
#9		 1.0% #9 453,057
1 / 272
 Asfandyar Wali Khan In Opposition
2018 1.5% #7 815,998
1 / 272
 Asfandyar Wali Khan In Opposition (till 11 April 2022)
In Alliance with PDM & PPP
2024 1.1% #10 622,115
0 / 272
 Aimal Wali Khan —

Ideology

The party espouses a nonviolent approach to tackling extremism.

economic egalitarianism, and Pashtun nationalism. The party has dense support among the Pashtun population in the country. Since 2000, its liberal socialism and pro-Pashtun philosophy has become the integral part of the party, advocating for the regional autonomy and increased Pashtun cultural expression. A frequent coalition partner in provincial politics, it was routed in the 2002 elections because of its opposition to the Taliban and support for the NATO-backed Karzai administration
in neighboring Afghanistan.

It joined the opposition All Parties Democratic Movement, and along with other parties except the Pakistan Peoples Party resigned from Parliament in October 2007 in protest against the military regime of Pervez Musharraf. It was targeted in 2007 and 2008 by presumed supporters of the Taliban.[22][23] Despite the attacks, the party has advocated dialogue with moderate tribal elements to end the violence in the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

ANP leaders

The Awami National Party is one of the few parties in Pakistan to hold a system of regular internal general elections every four-year period.

See also

References

  1. ^ "ANP new chief vows to protect 18th Amendment at all costs". Dawn (newspaper). 6 May 2024.
  2. ^ "ANP blames PTI for protestors' arrests". Associated Press of Pakistan. 5 December 2024.
  3. ^ "ANP and its antecedents". DAWN.COM. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
  4. ^ "Awami National Party – Pashtun party seeks national role". Radio France Internationale. 29 April 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "Explainer: Pakistan's main political parties". Al-Jazeera. 6 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Elections in Pakistan". The Chronicle of Higher Education. 20 February 2008.
  7. ISBN 978-1-139-48282-0
    . ANP is Awami National Party, a Pashtun nationalist, secular party with socialist orientation
  8. ^ a b "Pakistan's 'Gandhi' party takes on Taliban, Al Qaeda". The Christian Science Monitor. 5 May 2008.
  9. ^ a b c d e Peter R. Blood (April 1994). "Pakistan: A Country Study" (PDF). Library of Congress (U.S.).
  10. ^ Waseem Ahmad Shah (23 September 2001). "Govt-ANP deal seen behind Hoti's release". Dawn Wire Service.
  11. ISBN 0-7391-0498-5
    .
  12. ^ Zia Ur Rehman (July 2011). "Demographic divide". The Friday Times. Karachi.
  13. ^ "US silent on visit of Asfandyar". Dawn. 10 May 2008.
  14. ^ Shaheryar Popalzai; Atika Rehman; Gibran Ashraf (8 July 2011). "Karachi violence, over 100 dead". The Tribune Express.
  15. ^ Maqbool Ahmed; Mansoor Khan (27 March 2015). "Troubled north-west comes to town". Herald.
  16. ^ "ANP, PTI lose highest number of MPs to terrorism". The News International. 24 April 2016.
  17. ^ "Ambushed: Police, ANP leader come under attack". The Express Tribune. 6 January 2013.
  18. ^ "Nine, including senior minister, killed in Pakistan suicide blast". Times Of India. 22 December 2012.
  19. ^ "Blast at ANP rally in Quetta: death toll rises to eight". Dawn. 13 July 2012.
  20. ^ "Imran Khan responsible for blasts: ANP". The News International. 30 September 2013.
  21. ^ "'Skip the meeting': Late ANP hopeful Haroon Bilour told son minutes before blast". www.geo.tv. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  22. ^ "ANP MNA hands over resignation". Dawn. 24 September 2007.
  23. ^ "Secularists Face Tests In Northwest Pakistan". Washington Post. 1 March 2008.
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