Awami National Party (Political Party) Bio

The Awami National Party  is a political party in Pakistan, representing by a single seat in the Parliament. The party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986 and its current president is Asfandyar Wali Khan, grandson of Bacha Khan, with Tajuddin Khan serving as the Secretary-General. Part of the PPP-led cabinet of the Pakistani government during 2008-13, the ANP's political position is considered left wing, advocating for secularism, democratic socialism, public sector government, and economic egalitarianism.
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 but it was wiped out by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 2013 election.The ANP party enjoys friendly ties with neighboring Afghanistan and India, and the United States

Background:.

Khan Abdul Wali Khan's political career had been built on the tradition of intense Pashtun nationalism inherited from his father, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan). Both men were opposed to the creation of Pakistan, and after partition they were imprisoned. In 1956 Wali Khan joined the National Awami Party (NAP), led by a charismatic Bengali socialist, Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani. In 1965 the NAP split into two factions, with Wali Khan becoming president of the pro-Moscow faction.
The party's members participated in 1970 parliamentary elections through the Pakistan Peoples Party's platform and the National Awami Party, forming a 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 Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. These governments were short lived. Wali Khan was again jailed, and his party was barred from politics when the Supreme Court upheld the finding of President Bhutto that the NAP was conspiring against the state of Pakistan. General 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, President Bhutto was imprisoned and executed in April 1979.

Ideology: 

The party espouses a nonviolent approach to tackling extremism. It promotes democratic socialism, secularism, economic egalitarianism, and Pashtun nationalism. The party has dense support among the Pashtun population in the country. Although since 2000, its liberal socialism and pro-Pashtun philosophy has became its 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 party's 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. 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. It has rejected foreign interference in the region. Since the 2008 elections the party has been the principal target of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) with over 100 activists having been assassinated by suicide bombers or in target killings. It has also accused the Pakistani establishment and of being complicit in allowing the growth of the TTP in Pakistan because of its former support for the fighters.

 Foreign policy:

Further information: Afghanistan–Pakistan relations and Pakistan–United States relations

The Awami National Party has close ties with the Pashtun dominated government of Afghanistan and with the United States. Some claim that the party also has supporters in Russia but this is difficult to verify. Others claim that like its partner Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) the ANP suffered from the great purged by the General Zia-ul-Haq government.


During the 1980s, the party demanded the end of the US-Pakistan Operation Cyclone and acceptance of Afghanistan's terms for speedy repatriation. In 1987, calculations completed by Pakistan Institute of Public Opinions (PIPO), around 66% of ANP's respondents expressed themselves against Pakistan's continuing support of the mujahideen fighters. The mujahideen were men from over 40 Islamic nations that arrived to Pakistan in the 1980s to be used as fighters in the Soviet war in Afghanistan. This violated article 2 of the 1893 Durand Line Agreement with Kabul. The ANP party played a major role in improving Pakistan's relations with Russia.