PESHAWAR - Awami National Party central leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour has said that any changes in the 18th constitutional amendment will be unfair with the country, and asked the rulers to restrain any such attempts.

Speaking a news conference here at his residence on Thursday, Bilour said that the incumbent government lacks two-third majority in the parliament, so how it could revise this amendment, he added.

He also said that those ministers must stop who had been talking about altering the 18th amendment.

The ANP central senior vice president Ghulam Bilour termed the arrest of a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Aleem Khan as fake and a clear joke with the nation. He said that Imran Khan is a selected Prime Minister, whatever he is doing is to become a part of the history.

He said that unfair attitude is being carried out with three-time prime minister of the country. He said the people surrounding the Prime Minister Imran Khan are remnants and friends of ousted dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

Bilour called to abstain from talking about presidential system. “If we see 1940 resolution then we will present new demands in the light of this resolution,” the ANP leader said. He noted that all powers would have been shifted to single province under the presidential system, adding that nobody remained in his whole life in power.

ANP central leader Bilour said that government and security agencies had failed to arrest the killers of ANP slain leader, Haroon Bilour. He said people were talking about murder of Naqeebullah and SP Tahir Dawar but no one said anything about martyrdom of Haroon Bilour.

He also expressed reservations over his party for not talking about the murder of Haroon Bilour in a bomb blast. He demanded to speed up investigation into Haroon Bilour’s murder case, as he (Haroon) had no enmity with anyone.

The ANP leader said that the incumbent government has devalued Pakistani rupee due to which inflation has increased. Expenses of judges in Muslim country are more than that of secular states, he continued. He criticised the government for hike in power and gas tariff.

He also slammed the federal government for withdrawal of subsidy on Hajj, and demanded revision of the decision.

He said that the Bus Rapid Transit project is useless step of the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying the project badly affected business activities in provincial capital Peshawar, while traffic situation was also disbursed on routes of BRT. 

He demanded of the NAB authorities to conduct probe into escalating cost of the BRT project.

ANP Central General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain said Pakhtuns at both side of the border badly suffered in last 40 years war and now this is high time to forge unity among their ranks to face the future challenges.

He expressed these views while addressing death anniversary function of Pakhtun nationalist leader and renowned poet Ajmal Khattak at Bacha Khan Markaz Peshawar on Thursday.

He said that peace and prosperity in Pakistan are interlinked with each other and if there was peace in Afghanistan, peace would be prevailed in the country.

He added that they are praying for successful dialogue between US and Taliban and both parties should include Afghan government in the process of dialogue which is an important stakeholder in the ongoing peace process and it would be impossible prevail lasting peace without them.

Regarding erstwhile Fata developmental package, Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that ANP would not accept any cut in the funds of merged tribal districts and along with due share of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, federal government should timely disburse the funds of merged districts.

Paying tributes to Late Ajmal Khattak, ANP leader said that despite poverty and poor economic condition, Ajmal Khattak earned a good name due to his struggle for Pakhtuns. He said that along with the politics of non violence he also learned the politics of resistance and that was the reason that his political career is different from other leaders of the party.

He said that he was not only leader but also journalist and poet and it was due to his political struggle that he faced several difficulties in his life.

He mentioned that his political struggle was dominant over his literary and journalist work.

Commenting over the arrest of Aleem Khan, Iftikhar said that PTI have a unique character when NAB arrests members of opposition, they declared them thieves and dacoits while their own party members are being declared heroes for their resignation before arrest.

He said that ANP welcomed the arrest of Aleem Khan by NAB and demanded across the board accountability in the country to pave way for transparency.