News
Monday, November 25, 2013
Begum Wali Khan announces to run partyPESHAWAR: Veteran nationalist leader Begum Nasim Wali Khan announced Sunday her return to active politics after years of silence, mobilising “disgruntled workers” of the Awami National Party, which she believes needs a new leadership after the party’s dismal performance in May 11 general elections.
“I may be older, but my spirit is young,” she told a news conference at Wali Bagh in Charsadda District amidst fears that her decision to jump in at a time when differences among the senior leaders would split the party. She said the ANP “does not need Asfandyar Wali Khan, Azam Hoti and Ameer Haider Hoti”. She did not explain why she thought so. “The party has lost touch after the dismal performance in the general elections,” Begum Nasim said, asking the youth to get her mission accomplished.
She had won a general seat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and was the first woman to do so in 1977. Begum Nasim also got elected as an MPA in 1988, 1990 and 1993. “Asfandyar has disappointed the party workers,” she said, asking the ANP workers to come forward and support her. “There will be no place for corrupt leaders in my party.” She said she will call a jirga soon to announce new leadership of the party.
Begum Nasim was the most powerful woman in the ANP when Wali Khan was alive, serving the party as provincial president for a long time before she was thrown out of the party in 2007. She was the provincial president when the party was handed the worst defeat as the alliance of religious parties under the banner of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) swept the 2002 general elections. staff report
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk