Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has thrown his weight behind the emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying the federal government should have acted much sooner to stop the province’s law-and-order situation sliding out of control.
Speaking in London on Saturday, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president said the step was essential to restoring order and dealing with the security and administrative problems facing the province.
He accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of damaging Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during almost 13 years in power, saying successive PTI administrations had failed to govern effectively and had left ordinary people without progress.
He described the people of the province as patriotic Pakistanis who deserved better leadership, and said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had at last been freed from PTI rule, calling that a major relief for the province and its residents.
In some of his sharpest remarks, he questioned how a provincial chief minister could use official resources to march on the federal capital and challenge the federation. He asked what could justify deploying one province’s resources against Islamabad and other provinces, arguing that such actions weakened responsible governance and the relationship between the federation and its constituent units.
President Asif Ali Zardari approved the emergency and governor’s rule on 11 October, on the recommendations of the federal cabinet led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The federal government cited the worsening security situation and accused the PTI-led provincial administration of failing to cooperate adequately in the fight against terrorism.
The PTI has rejected the move as unconstitutional and politically driven, and has challenged the emergency and governor’s rule in the Peshawar High Court, seeking restoration of the elected provincial government. Nawaz, however, insisted the intervention was overdue and necessary in view of the conditions prevailing in the province.
Turning to the wider picture, he said the PML-N remained fully committed to Pakistan’s development, stability and prosperity. The federal and provincial governments, he added, were working to improve the lives of ordinary citizens, with public welfare and national development at the centre of his party’s priorities.
