Pakistan weighs emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Pakistan's government could declare a state of emergency on Sunday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the northwestern province bordering Afghanistan that is run by the PTI, the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. According to Dawn, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saw President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday, Oct. 10. After that meeting, which reviewed the political and security picture, the federal government is weighing the measure.

Geo News goes further. Citing anonymous sources, it says the decision has already been made and that the federal cabinet would meet at 9:30 a.m. Sunday to approve it. That is not confirmed: Dawn and the provincial governor, Faisal Karim Kundi, speak only of an assessment. Kundi says nothing is official and that the cabinet must choose between emergency rule, governor's rule or both.

The Presidency also called separate sessions of the National Assembly and the Senate for Tuesday, Oct. 13. For his part, Tallal Chaudhry, the state secretary for the interior, called an emergency a "last resort" and said the government does not prefer it.

On the other side, the PTI march, which set out on Oct. 4, completed seven days and reached Mardan, still inside the province. Sohail Afridi, the head of the provincial government, told Aaj News he will not accept an emergency or governor's rule. He said the PTI "is peaceful and will remain peaceful," though it will not give up its rights.

According to Aaj News, the PTI demands three things:

• Permission to see Khan.
• Adequate medical care for him.
• Early hearings in the higher courts.

The caravan would head to Swabi on Sunday, and the party would announce its next step on Oct. 13.

Near the capital, in Rawalpindi district, deputy commissioner Nadeem Nasir imposed Section 144, a rule that limits gatherings, for 30 days, from Oct. 10 to Nov. 8, according to Dawn. It bans gatherings of more than five people, carrying weapons and flying drones. Dawn also reported containers at the Swabi interchange and at the Indus bridge on the M-1 motorway, which remains open, as does the Grand Trunk Road.

The underlying clash is over counterterrorism policy: the federal government and the provincial one dispute who decides security, and that sank the Oct. 3 talks. Khan has been in jail since August 2023, and the march demands his release. No source gives a current turnout figure, and it remains to be seen whether the cabinet decides on Sunday and which measure applies.