ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari told the National Assembly on Wednesday that he would personally ask the prime minister to lift the emergency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa if political dialogue with the PTI produces an agreement.
The offer came during the National Assembly debate on the emergency, ahead of a vote on the measure. Bilawal regretted the imposition but blamed the PTI’s provincial government.
“I would [still] recommend to the federal government that we should extend our hand forward once again for negotiations, political discussions and to find a resolution and middle path,” he said, stressing that the emergency was a temporary measure.
He added: “We cannot sustain the emergency forever.” Once the situation was resolved, he said, he would personally request the prime minister to end it.
The conditions for lifting
Bilawal tied the end of the emergency directly to the outcome of talks. If political dialogue produced an agreement and conditions improved to the point where the emergency was no longer needed, he would stand in the House himself and ask the prime minister to bring it to an end.
He said the federal government had repeatedly tried to engage the opposition first, and that the measure was fully constitutional — though he called it a “constitutional atomic bomb”.
Blame on the PTI government
The PPP chairman said the PTI’s own leadership had created the circumstances that left the centre with no other option. “They will have to accept, even if not publicly, but the responsible leadership of the opposition knows that the PTI itself carried out a political suicide attack on its KP government,” he said.
He pointed to KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s speeches during the PTI’s long march, where the chief minister vowed not to fight terrorism in the manner the centre wanted. “If this was not a political suicide, then what else was it?” he asked.
Bilawal also responded to PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan’s speech in the House, criticising him for wanting to “set aside” the issue of terrorism.
Why the emergency was imposed
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar opened the debate with the government’s case: the K-P government’s attitude towards terrorism had become a threat to national security, and comparisons with the 1999 emergency imposed by former dictator Pervez Musharraf were misplaced.
Tarar told the House that 2,911 terrorism incidents took place in KP between 2021 and 2024. That number rose to 3,787 between Oct 15, 2025, when Afridi took office as chief minister, and Oct 9, 2026.
He also criticised Afridi for ignoring fallen security and police personnel while pursuing political goals, and recalled the PTI’s pledge to “conquer” Islamabad.
Stalled talks before the march
Bilawal disclosed that talks had come close to a breakthrough before the long march. The PTI had agreed to declare areas in KP with surging terrorism as “terrorist” areas, he said, and the two sides were on the brink of signing a pact on joint counterterrorism efforts by the federal and provincial governments.
He said Pakistan’s situation had grown “more complicated” due to India’s sponsorship of terrorism, calling terrorism a red line for the PPP.
Bilawal had earlier warned that governor’s rule or an emergency would be a “political atomic bomb” for KP, saying the PPP considered it only a last resort. He has now shifted from warning against the move to offering PTI a political path out of it.
What happens next
The debate precedes a vote on the emergency proclamation, which the PPP will support. If dialogue succeeds, Bilawal says he will ask the prime minister to end it; if it fails, the emergency stays.
For readers following the saga, this publication has covered the full timeline: the centre seriously considering the emergency, the questioning of the K-P chief minister’s future, and the warnings of governor’s rule if PTI quits the assemblies.
Frequently asked questions
What did Bilawal offer the PTI?
He offered political dialogue, pledging to personally ask the prime minister to lift the emergency if talks produce an agreement.
Is the emergency permanent?
No. Bilawal described it as a temporary measure in the National Assembly, adding that “we cannot sustain the emergency forever”.
What triggered the emergency in K-P?
The federal government cites rising terrorism, the breakdown of talks with the provincial government, and the KP administration’s refusal to cooperate with the centre on counterterrorism.
