(The Turkish Post) – Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari imposed emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, Oct. 11, suspending the provincial government run by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, the president’s office said.
The move places Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a northwestern province of more than 40 million people on the border with Afghanistan, under the direct control of the federal government. It came as thousands of supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were marching toward Islamabad to demand his release.
Zardari signs emergency rule order
Zardari acted on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who chaired a federal cabinet meeting earlier on Sunday to review security in the province. The president’s office said he signed after the cabinet’s decision, reports on law and order from the relevant institutions and the failure of negotiations with government delegations.
The order invokes Articles 232 and 234 of Pakistan’s constitution. Article 232 allows the president to declare an emergency when the country’s security is threatened, including by internal disturbances beyond a provincial government’s control. Article 234 provides for direct federal rule through the governor when a province can no longer be governed in line with the constitution.
The proclamation cites a rise in terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, threats to the lives and property of citizens, and attacks on government installations and security forces. It allows the federal government to direct the provincial governor to exercise some or all of the provincial government’s powers.
Federal officials said a governor would run the province with an advisory council and that army troops would be deployed to support the civil administration. The federal government also appointed Muhammad Fakhr Alam Irfan as the province’s chief secretary, its top civil servant.
Government blames the province over militancy
The federal government and the military have accused the PTI administration in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of failing to act against Islamist militants, who have stepped up attacks on police and soldiers in the province in recent years. The cabinet accused the provincial government of disengaging from the fight against terrorism.
The PTI rejects the accusation, and the two sides have long been divided over counterterrorism policy in the province. Islamabad also accuses neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering militants who attack Pakistan, a charge the Taliban government in Kabul denies.
Zulfikar Bukhari, a senior PTI official and aide to Khan, described the emergency as the overthrow of an elected government and warned that it could lead to further bloodshed and instability.
Imran Khan supporters on the march
The decision followed the collapse of talks between the government and the PTI in early October. The party then launched a march toward Islamabad from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to demand Imran Khan’s release, led by the province’s chief minister, Sohail Afridi.
Federal ministers had warned before the march began that the province could face an emergency or governor’s rule if the party went ahead. The government had linked negotiations on the PTI’s demands to an agreement on security measures in the province.
Authorities have blocked major roads with shipping containers and deployed large numbers of police and security forces around Islamabad and in Peshawar, the provincial capital.
Imran Khan, 74, has been in prison since August 2023 and faces a series of cases, including corruption charges and charges linked to riots that broke out after his arrest in May 2023. He and his lawyers say the cases are politically motivated.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a PTI stronghold since 2013
The PTI has governed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2013 and kept control of the provincial assembly in the February 2024 general election, when candidates backed by the party ran as independents after it was barred from using its election symbol. The party says the military rigged that vote, which the military denies.
Direct federal rule in a province has precedents in Pakistan. In 2009, during Zardari’s first term as president, governor’s rule was imposed in Punjab for about a month. In January 2013, the federal government dismissed the provincial government of Balochistan after bombings in Quetta killed scores of members of the Hazara community.
When the president declares an emergency over a province without a request from its provincial assembly, the constitution requires the proclamation to be put before both houses of parliament within 10 days.
