SWABI - Awami National Party leaders said that without a grand alliance of the opposition parties against their candidates in the next general elections, they would sweep the next general elections in the district.
They were talking to media after their meeting at the residence of ANP, district chapter, President Haji Rehmanullah here on Monday. Rehmanullah said that one could go through the past track record, which makes it crystal clear that the opposition parties have either entered into an alliance or moved for seat-to-seat adjustment against ANP while preparing ground for a close one-to-one contest. 
“There was a candidate of all political parties on one side and our contesting leader of the other. Late Dr Muhammad Salim won election against the ANP Aman Khan under the same strategy in 2002 election from PK-31, Swabi-1, but when there was no alliance in 2008 against the incumbent provincial minister for Ushr and Zakat, Zar Shaid Khan, he emerged victorious,” he said.
Similarly, MPAs Sikandar Irfan and Sarfaraz Khan Jadoon also won elections in 2008 elections when the opposition parties failed to enter into an electoral alliance,” he said.
Rehmanullah, who was elected twice as MNA from the district, said that the district has remained a stronghold of the ANP. They had conducted record development works, rejecting the opponents’ allegations that the ruling party has failed to meet the expectations of the locals, he said.
Tamraiz Khan, ANP’s district general secretary and the expected candidate from PK-31, Swabi-1 said there is a gulf of differences among the opposition parties and the pledges they made with each other did not fulfill in the past. “It might be difficult for the opposition parties to gang up against the ANP in the upcoming general elections,” he said.
There are several examples that how the concluded agreements have been violated, he said, adding that this scenario has given them a great hope that their party would remain dominant in the district.” Aamir Rehman, former MPA and son of Rehmanullah said, “We would appeal to people to votes for us because we have completed record development projects during our government, established new Razaar Tehsil and the establishment of a university in the district has already finalised by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.”
Meanwhile, the inaugural ceremony of the first symposium on Emerging Technologies in Information Technology (ETIT 2012) was held at the Baragali Campus, University of Peshawar.
The symposium is hosted by the Department of Computer Science, University of Peshawar, with the collaboration of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, IT Board and Higher Education Commission.
Vice Chancellor, University of Peshawar, Prof Dr Qibla Ayaz was the chief guest of the inaugural ceremony. Chairman Department of Compute Science, Dr Saeed Mahfooz gave an overview about the aims and objectives of the symposium. He said that the importance of symposium is to bridge the gap between academia and industries.
Director Projects KP IT Board Arbab Usman explained the remarkable projects initiated by the IT Board including the establishment of two IT parks for the promotion of IT in the province. The Chief Guest stressed on need of equipping researchers, IT professionals, and students with the knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of emerging technologies in the field of IT. Renowned researchers, professors, IT professionals, and students are attending the symposium. IT companies installed stalls and briefed the participants about the business and job opportunities available in KPK.