PESHAWAR, May 24: You can learn a line from a win and a book from defeat.
This could be true for Awami National Party, which has learnt lessons in the May 11 elections and one important lesson it has learnt is that it needs to reorganise and strengthen its youth wing, Nangyalay Pukhtun (young Pakhtuns with pride), to attract young voters for the next elections.
The committee tasked with the difficult job of identifying the reasons or causes for the party’s massive defeat is to come up with its report and recommendations within two months, according to ANP provincial president Afrasiab Khattak.
He, however, said reforms in the party had already begun by reorganisation of youth wing.
According to another ANP leader Aqil Shah, who is the newly-appointed Salaar (chief) of Nangyalay Pukhtun, said 61 per cent of the country’s population consisted of youths, so his party was going to focus on those teenagers, who would be voters by the next elections. The recent elections in which youths for the first time seemed more involved and voted for a party, which promised change, showed that youths were emerging as a decisive element in politics.
Mr Shah feared that if youths did not find any positive change, they might be disappointed. “Our youth is dismayed and disoriented due to the present situation of the province,” he said.
He said his party would try to take youths into its fold for victory in the next elections. The ANP leader said his party would focus on teenagers, girls and boys alike. “It will try to develop understanding of their issues. I plan to visit the entire province to increase membership of Nangyalay Pukhtun,” he said.
Mr Shah said he being a former youth affairs minister was aware of the youth’s issues but terrorism had devastated infrastructure in the province and kept it backward resulting in limited job opportunities for youths.
According to him, unemployment, lack of opportunities and even basic facilities are major issues of young persons in the province and development and creation of investment opportunities for them in the province is the only solution.
He said the last ANP government had initiated the process to develop youth policy to address all these issues.
“Terrorism will end one day because even youths, who have become terrorists, will finally become sick of the situation. Development is the only solution of our problems,” he said.
ANP, according its leaders, has realised the power of young voters, so it is going to focus on addressing their problems and working for their development for its benefit in the next general elections. The ANP leaders insist their party may have lost the recent elections due to own
shortcomings, including bad governance, but rigging and terrorist threats also contributed to the defeat.
They proudly claim the party’s last government had to its credit initiatives like the change of the province’s name from North West Frontier Province to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the securing of provincial autonomy under 18th Constitutional Amendment and the seventh
National Finance Commission Award.
They also make a mention of some schemes initiated by their party’s government like Stoori De Khyber Pakhtunkhwa scholarship and laptop schemes for bright students, loan schemes under Bacha Khan Rozgaar Scheme and establishment of universities in the province but admit they didn’t appeal to young voters like Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf did by massive media campaigns about change or Naya Pakistan.
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