The
Awami National Party (ANP) is an Pashtun nationalist, socialist, centre-left political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Its main area of electoral influence is in the
PashtunPashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
dominated areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, with some following in
BalochistanBalochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...
and
SindhSindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
provinces of Pakistan.
Formation and history
In 1986, the National Democratic Party merged with several other
progressiveProgressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
political and ethnic nationalist groups to form the Awami National Party. Abdul Wali Khan was elected as its president and Sindhi nationalist Rasul Bakh Palijo was elected its secretary general. The party from 1986-1988 was a member of the
Movement for Restoration of DemocracyThe Movement for the Restoration of Democracy was a major alliance formed by Secular-Socialist democratic political forces aiming to end the General Zia-ul-Haq's martial law and military dictatorship in the country. It was formed in February 1981. The alliance was aimed at restoring democracy and...
.
The party formed a coalition government with the People's Party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad after the 1988 election. This alliance collapsed in April 1989 after differences cropped up between the two parties.
The Awami National Party formed an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League 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 SharifMian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani conservative politician and steel magnate who served as 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from November 1990 to July 1993, and from February 1997 to October 12, 1999...
to power after the 1990 elections the ANP again formed a coalition with former rivals
Pakistan Muslim LeagueThe Pakistan Muslim League was founded in 1962, as a successor to the previously disbanded Muslim League in Pakistan. Unlike the original PML which ended in 1958 when General Ayub Khan banned all political parties, each subsequent Muslim League was in some way propped by the military dictators of...
. This alliance proved longer lasting, surviving till 1998 when it collapsed over differences over
Kalabagh DamThe Kalabagh dam is a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Indus River at Kalabagh in Mianwali District of the Punjab province in Pakistan. The project has been controversial since its inception.-History:...
and renaming the province
PakhtunkhwaThe Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been known by a number of names during its existence. In addition to North-West Frontier Province, the official name by which it was known from 1901 to 2010, other names used or proposed for the province include Afghania, Pakhtunistan, Pashtunistan,...
. The party then joined the Grand Democratic Alliance, campaigning against the increasingly dictatorial Nawaz Sharif government's policies. After Nawaz Sharif's overthrow by Pervez Musharraf, the party stayed an active member of the
Alliance for Restoration of DemocracyThe Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy comprises the two largest political parties in Pakistan - the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League...
, until the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001, when it left the alliance over supporting the US ouster of the Taliban. The party's reputation was damaged in this period following the arrest of former Federal Minister and senior party leader Azam Khan Hoti.
In the 2002 elections the party struck up an alliance with the People's party however both parties were electorally routed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by the religion-political alliance
Muttahida Majlis-e-AmalMuttahida Majlis-e-Amal is a coalition of Islamist parties that was formed in 2002 to electorally challenge the Pakistan Parliament's incumbent parties...
(MMA) riding on a wave of anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.
In the 2008 elections the party contested on its own and won a plurality of votes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as winning seats in Balochistan for the first time in 15 years and in
KarachiKarachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
for the first time. It subsequently formed a government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is supporting the PPP government in the centre and Sindh and Balochistan.
The strongholds of the ANP are in the Pashtun areas of Pakistan, except in Punjab, particularly in the Peshawar valley of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while Karachi hosts one of the largest Pashtun populations in the world with 7 million Pashtuns living there. In the election of 2008, the ANP won two Sindh assembly seats in Karachi. Prevailing ethnic tensions in the city were revealed when Karachi descended into a spate of violence after at least eight people were killed, 20 others injured and 12 vehicles set ablaze by unknown people in different parts of the city after the killing of an ANP leader and his co-worker at the Quaid-i-Azam International Airport in August 2010.
Party presidents
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.
- 1986-1990 Abdul Wali Khan
- 1991-1999 Ajmal Khattak
Ajmal Khattak was a Pakistani politician, writer, Pashtun poet, Khudai Khidmatgar, former President of Awami National Party and close friend of the late Khan Wali Khan....
- 1999-2002 Asfandyar Wali
Asfandyar Wali Khan is a democratic socialist and the current the President of the Awami National Party in Pakistan.His father, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, was the party's first President...
- 2002-2003 Ehsan Wyne
Ehsan Wyne is a Pakistani lawyer, political activist and secretary general of the Awami National Party.He received his Bachelors degree from Emerson College, Multan, and did LLB from SM Law College, Karachi....
- 2003- 2007 Asfandyar Wali
Asfandyar Wali Khan is a democratic socialist and the current the President of the Awami National Party in Pakistan.His father, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, was the party's first President...
- 2007- 2011 Asfandyar Wali
Asfandyar Wali Khan is a democratic socialist and the current the President of the Awami National Party in Pakistan.His father, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, was the party's first President...
- 2011- Asfandyar Wali Khan
Asfandyar Wali Khan is a democratic socialist and the current the President of the Awami National Party in Pakistan.His father, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, was the party's first President...
Other leaders
- Afzal Khan Lala
Muhammed Afzal Khan Lala also known as Afzal Khan Lala is a Pashtun nationalist, former Pakistani provincial and Federal minister from the Swat valley in the North-West Frontier Province....
- Ghulam Ahmad Bilour
Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour is a former senior vice President in the Awami National Party and present Federal Railways minister in Pakistan. A present and former three time Federal Minister in Pakistan, he has played a significant role in the ANP and its predecessor, the National Awami Party...
- Afrasiab Khattak
Afrasiab Khattak or Afrasayab Khattak is a politician from Kohat, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. He is currently a member of the Senate, the upper house of the Parliament of Pakistan and the provincial president of the Awami National Party in North-West Frontier Province.Afrasiab Khattak...
, Provincial President ANP PakhtunKhwa
- Shahi Sayed
Shahi Sayed or Shahi Syed is the president of Awami National Party Sindh chapter , Pakistan. Shahi Sayed is the chairman of the Pakhtun Action Committee or Pakhtun Loya Jirga of Karachi...
, Provincial President ANP Sindh
- Bashir Ahmad Bilour
Bashir Ahmad Bilour is a member of the provincial assembly of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Senior Minister for Local Government and Rural Development of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.-Early life:...
- Ameer Haider Khan Hoti
Ameer Haider Khan khoti is a member of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and current Chief Minister of the Pakistani province Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa...
- Latif Afridi
Abdul Latif Afridi is a lawyer, currently vice Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council and the former president of the Pakistan Peshawar High Court Bar Association...
- Bushra Gohar
Bushra Gohar, , is a Pakistani stateswoman, public intellectual and one of leading woman politician. She is currently serving as the Senior Vice-President of the Awami National Party, a democratic socialist and secular political party, as well as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Women’s...
- Haji Muhammad Adeel
Haji Muhammad Adeel - Pakistani senator, is the leader of the Awami National Party in the Senate and senior vice president of the Awami National Party.-Biography:...
- Qazi Anwar
Qazi Muhammad Anwar, former Attorney General, constitutional lawyer, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and former senator. A former activist in the Pakistan Peoples Party, he joined the Awami National Party in 1994 in protest against the dismissal of the provincial...
- Mian Iftikhar Hussain
Mian Iftikhar Hussain from Pabbi, Nowshera is a serving provincial information minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. A senior party activist of the Awami National Party and former student leader of the Pakhtun Student Federation...
- Masood ABBAS KHATTAK
- Zahid Khan
Zahid Khan is a politician from Dir District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. He holds the portfolio of Central Information Secretary of the Awami National Party. He is presently serving as Senator for the 2nd time in the Senate of Pakistan....
- Azam Khan Hoti
- Hasham Baber
- Haji Mohammad Adeel
- Haji Jalani khan]
- Malak Shaik Mohd. Yar Khan]
- Eng.Zamrak Khan]
- Srdar Asgher Khan]
- Arbab Zahir Khan Kasi]
- Bashir Khan Umarzai]
- Baz Mohammad Khan]
.
]wali dad miani s/o haji haq dad zelai sadar ANP harnai
Ideology
The party espouses a liberal pro-Pashtun philosophy advocating regional autonomy and increased 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 US invasion of Afghanistan.
It joined the opposition All Parties Democratic Movement, and along with other partys except the Pakistan Peoples Party resigned from Parliament in October 2007 in protest against the military regime of Pervaiz Musharraf.
It was targeted in 2007 and 2008 by presumed supporters of the Taliban. Despite the attacks, the party has advocated dialogue with moderate tribal elements to end present violence in the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It has rejected foreign interference in the region whether US or Al-Qaeda. Since the 2008 elections the party has been the principal target of Tehreek-e-Taliban militants with over 100 activists by February 2009 having been assassinated by suicide bombers or in target killings. It has also accused the Pakistani establishment of being complicit in allowing the growth of the Tehreek-e-Taliban in Pakistan because of its former support for the fighters.
2008 elections
In the 2008 elections, the Awami National Party beat
Muttahida Majlis-e-AmalMuttahida Majlis-e-Amal is a coalition of Islamist parties that was formed in 2002 to electorally challenge the Pakistan Parliament's incumbent parties...
, a party formed by coalition of Islamic movements in 2002. It also won provincial seats in Balochistan and in
SindhSindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
for the first time. It formed a coalition government with the Pakistan People's Party in all three provinces. In the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa it has its first Chief minister since 1948.
Controversies
On May 9, 2008 it was reported by
DAWN quoting source from diplomatic sources that Asfandyar Wali Khan that he made a secret visit to the United States in which he made high level contacts with the U.S Central Command. This has led to criticism of the party by conservatives for being pro-American.
175"|National Assembly
!width="175"|NWFP Provincial Assembly seats won
!width="175"|National percentage of polled votes
|-
|2008
|13
|48 + (2 in Karachi,Sindh)also three seats in Balochistan
|-
|2002
|0
|7
|1.0%
|-
|1997
|10
|32/80
|2.31
|-
|1993
|03
|18/80
|1.67%
|-
|1990
|06
|23/80
|1.68%
|-
|1988
|02
|10/80
|2.80%
|-
|}
See also
- Pakhtunkhwa
The Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been known by a number of names during its existence. In addition to North-West Frontier Province, the official name by which it was known from 1901 to 2010, other names used or proposed for the province include Afghania, Pakhtunistan, Pashtunistan,...
- Kalabagh Dam
The Kalabagh dam is a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Indus River at Kalabagh in Mianwali District of the Punjab province in Pakistan. The project has been controversial since its inception.-History:...
- Dr. Khan Sahib
- Bahram Khan Family
Bahram Khan Family is a major political family from Charsadda, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.- Family tree :The members of Bahram Khan family in politics:* Khan Abdul Bahram Khan, the founder of the family...
- Pashtunistan
Pakhtunistan or Pashtunistan, meaning the "land of Pakhtuns" or "land of Pashtuns", is a modern term used for the historical region inhabited by the native Afghans or Pashtun since at least the 1st millennium BC...
External links