Pakistan's Parliament backs emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Lawmakers endorsed the governor's takeover of the province run by Imran Khan's party, and a Peshawar court takes up a challenge on Tuesday.
Pakistan's Parliament on Oct. 15 endorsed a state of emergency and direct rule by the governor in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in a joint session of both houses, Dawn reported. The two resolutions back proclamations that President Asif Ali Zardari issued on Oct. 11 on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The province, in the country's northwest, is governed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party founded by the jailed Imran Khan. The federal cabinet was already weighing the move on Oct. 10, as a PTI march advanced toward Islamabad.
Dawn did not report the tally for each resolution, which passed by majority. Earlier, the session suspended some procedural rules by 214 votes to 56.
Sharif's government says the provincial administration deliberately neglected the fight against terrorism. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the federal government had "no option left" after talks on Oct. 3 failed. According to him, the head of the provincial government, Sohail Afridi, was dodging counterterrorism operations. That is the government's position and has not been independently verified. Sharif repeated on Oct. 17 that the center felt compelled to act, according to Dawn.
The PTI rejects the measure. Its chairman, Gohar Ali Khan, called it an "illegal and unconstitutional" dismissal of a provincial government.
Governor Faisal Karim Kundi runs the province with an 11-member technocratic advisory council, according to Geo News. Article 234 of the Constitution limits the governor's rule to two months unless a joint session extends it, and to a maximum of six. The PTI argues in its petition that it won two-thirds of the provincial assembly in 2024.
The petitions from the PTI and other opposition forces reach the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday, Oct. 20, which set that date for a preliminary hearing. It is not confirmed whether the government plans to extend the governor's rule beyond two months.
