President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday signed off on the federal cabinet’s recommendations, formally bringing an emergency and governor’s rule into force in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The presidency acted on Sunday after the cabinet advised the move, according to media reports. The emergency has been proclaimed under Article 232 of the Constitution, while governor’s rule follows Article 234. Federal ministers argue that the province’s deteriorating security situation and the provincial administration’s record on counterterrorism left the centre with no other option.
With the proclamation in effect, Governor Faisal Karim Kundi is set to assume charge of specified provincial functions. Senior bureaucrats have already been replaced, with a new chief secretary appointed in the province. Meanwhile, roads leading to the red zone in Peshawar have been sealed with containers, and the city’s BRT bus service has been suspended amid heavy security deployments.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had earlier told reporters there was “no room left” to avoid the step, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan rejected the decision outright. He called it a grave political mistake, arguing that it undermines democratic norms and the constitutional rights of the province’s people, and pledged to challenge it through constitutional, legal and democratic forums.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl also warned the government against the measure, describing it as dangerous. Separately, PTI’s Junaid Akbar claimed that he and Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had been taken into custody; no official confirmation of the claim had emerged.
The development marks a sharp escalation in the confrontation between the federation and the PTI-led provincial government, which has been at odds with Islamabad over security policy and the party’s planned protest marches toward the capital.
