Pakistan imposes emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ousting Imran Khan's party

Pakistan’s federal government took direct control of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, removing the provincial government run by former prime minister Imran Khan’s party as its supporters marched to demand his release.

President Asif Ali Zardari imposed an emergency and governor’s rule in the north-western province under Articles 232 and 234 of the constitution, approving a recommendation from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet. Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, his ministers, advisers and the provincial advocate general lost their posts with immediate effect. The provincial assembly was not dissolved, but its law-making powers passed to the federal Parliament.

The proclamation said the provincial government “could not function in accordance with the Constitution under the prevailing circumstances”, citing terrorist attacks on citizens, government buildings and security forces. Sharif’s cabinet, meeting in an emergency session, accused the province of “deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism”.

“I will not allow them to destabilise the economy,” Sharif told the cabinet, referring to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

A march cut short

Afridi was leading the PTI’s long march when the order came. On Monday a senior police official confirmed that eight people had been taken into “preventative custody”, among them Afridi, the PTI’s provincial president Junaid Akbar and the provincial assembly speaker, Babar Saleem Swati. Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry said the detentions took place on Sunday, and that anyone facing cases would be tried and the rest released.

The march itself fizzled out. The caravan had been expected in Swabi on Sunday night, but no significant protest was held there on Monday. Police dispersed workers gathering at Shiwa Adda and the Ismaila Interchange, and mobile phone networks and PTCL internet were suspended across the district. Police arrested 59 PTI workers in Swabi. Shipping containers sealed roads around Peshawar, mobile internet was cut in parts of the province, Peshawar’s bus rapid transit was suspended and schools in Peshawar district were shut on Monday. The federal government has authorised the army to deploy in aid of the civil administration.

The PTI hits back

PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan called the move undemocratic and said the party would challenge it in the courts, the assemblies and in public. He questioned why the whole province was under governor’s rule. “If the problem of terrorism exists in 12 districts, why has governor’s rule been imposed across the province?” he asked.

Zulfikar Bukhari, a close aide of Khan, called it a “ridiculous decision” and warned it would bring “further bloodshed, instability and collateral damage”. The PTI’s secretary general, Salman Akram Raja, urged restraint. “We will not throw stones. Through peaceful protest, we have to express our moral position,” he said.

No court challenge had been filed by Monday, though any petition is likely to go first to the Peshawar High Court. Eight members of the Pakistan Bar Council called the action illegal, saying in a joint statement that “the provincial government and the Provincial Assembly were both discharging their functions” under the constitution.

Who runs the province now

Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, a leader of Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party, now holds executive power under federal direction. He has an 11-member advisory council, and Muhammad Fakhr Alam Irfan has been named chief secretary. A separate secretariat will run administration, security and development in 12 districts, including Bannu, Bajaur, Kurram and North Waziristan.

Under the constitution, governor’s rule must be put before a joint sitting of Parliament and lapses after two months unless extended, up to a limit of six months.

How it came to this

Khan was removed as prime minister in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 and has been in prison since August 2023. His party has governed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has clashed with the centre over how to fight militants and whether to talk to the Afghan Taliban. Talks between the government and the PTI broke down on 3 October.