WorldPakistan
Pakistan's Parliament approves governor's rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 240 votes to 46
A joint sitting endorsed the takeover a day after both houses backed the emergency. The opposition alliance led by Mehmood Khan Achakzai called off talks with the government.
Key points
- The joint sitting passed the resolution on governor's rule 240 votes to 46.
- Governor's rule lapses after two months without a new approval and cannot run beyond six months.
- The TTAP alliance says there will be no talks until it can meet Imran Khan.
A joint sitting of Pakistan’s Parliament on Thursday approved governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, completing the constitutional sign-off for the federal takeover of the province run until Sunday by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry moved the resolution, which passed with 240 votes for and 46 against. Opposition members came into the chamber with placards reading “Emergency na manzoor”, or “emergency unacceptable”.
The vote came a day after the National Assembly and the Senate separately endorsed the emergency in the province. Under Article 234 of the Constitution, governor’s rule must be laid before a joint sitting and ends after two months unless it is approved again. It cannot stay in force for more than six months in all.
Shortly after the vote, the Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP), the opposition alliance allied to the PTI, said it was suspending all negotiations with the government. In a statement after a leadership meeting at the home of its chairman, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, the alliance said there would be “no talks” until a meeting with Imran Khan was arranged and details of his health were shared.
The TTAP called the emergency and governor’s rule a “midnight assault on the Constitution and the people’s mandate” and said it would challenge them in the Peshawar High Court. It wants the release of ousted Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, other detained lawmakers and Khan’s sisters, who have been held for nearly three weeks under public order laws.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Monday that governor’s rule was aimed at curbing terrorism and was not politically motivated. The federal cabinet accused the PTI-led provincial government of “deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism”.