No threat to democracy: Asfand

PESHAWAR: The chief of Awami National Party, one of the major coalition partners of the present set up, Asfand Yaar Wali Khan, said that there is no threat to democracy right now. ‘I don’t see threat to the democracy from the armed forces,” he said this while addressing a press conference on Saturday. He said that all the institutions need to work under limits and must not interfere because such attitudes will weak the country. “The country is fighting the war against terrorists for its survival and stability. We’ll not surrender before the terrorists. The terrorists will be defeated. Stopping suicide bombers is difficult.” Khan said that his party, ANP, fully supports the military operations in South Waziristan and in other parts of NWFP province. The security forces have given great sacrifices and we pay our rich tribute to them, he added. He said that his government started talks with Taliban and made agreement with them but, he added, they violated the agreement. We tried hard to settle the issue with negotiations but all in vain. The militants want to impose their own writ and want to control the tribal areas. We have defeated them and the writ of the government has been revived there, he added. The head of the one of the secular parties in the province, he said that the terrorists are the non-state actors and, he further added, President Asif Ali Zardari refers these men as non-state actors who want to destabilize the country. Supporting President Zardari he said that the president is given constitutional immunity. He said that President Zardari is a party head besides the president of the country. Khan rarely appears before the media like other politicians do often. His party is facing tough times after coming into power owing to the increasing militancy and terrorists attacks in the province. SAMAA