PESHAWAR: Member of National Assembly from North Waziristan Mohsin Dawar and leading Pashtun nationalist politicians have launched a new political party – National Democratic Movement (NDM) – to “work for parliamentary supremacy and protection of basic constitutional rights.”
“There is a vacuum for Pashtun nationalist political party which take all the decisions through democratic process and where youth are provided a leading role,” Dawar said while addressing a press conference in Peshawar. Prominent nationalist politicians Afrasiab Khattak, Bushra Gohar, President of Supreme Court Bar Association Abdul Latif Afridi and other senior politicians were present during the news the conference. In the past, these politicians were the part of the Awami National Party (ANP), a major Pashtun nationalist party, but they were expelled for violating the party discipline.
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Dawar said that 64% of our population is youth but they have never been provided driving seat by any political party. “There is no democracy in our national political parties. Decision making process is limited to few individuals,” Dawar alleged. “We have already been pushed into another war. We need a democratic party to protect the Pashtun’s soil as only a proper political organistation can cope with the current situation.”
Party manifesto
Explaining the policy of the party, Dawar said that the party will struggle for a “real” democratic Pakistan where the federal will have only four subjects – Foreign affairs, currency, defense and inter-provincial communication – while the remaining subjects will remain with the federating units. “Our aim is to establish a peaceful and just society where citizens have complete rights over their natural resources,” Dawar announced. He added that state has to ensure and protect rights irrespective of religious, caste and racial differences.
Dawar said that new party believes in parliamentary supremacy and the will work for the protection of 18th constitutional amendments. He said that the party will struggle to declare all the languages, spoken in Pakistan, as national tongues through a constitutional amendment while Urdu will only be mean of communication. During the press conference, he said that the party will work for education and will demanded at-least 4% of GDP to education.
The North Waziristan lawmakers urged for an end to interference in Afghanistan and accused Pakistani government of supporting the Taliban to capture Kabul. He said that Pakistan has suffered a lot due to such policies and so far 70,000 people – majority of them Pashtun – have been killed. He maintained that the new party will raise voice against “fake” cases against politicians and activist for the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), Ali Wazir.