DRAFT — PPP Was Last Party to Back K-P Emergency, Says Sharjeel Memon

• Suggested slug: sharjeel-memon-ppp-last-party-kp-emergency
• Category: National News
• Focus keyphrase: K-P emergency
• SEO title: PPP Was Last Party to Back K-P Emergency: Sharjeel Memon
• Meta description: Sharjeel Memon says the PPP was the last party to back the K-P emergency and governor’s rule, insisting it pushed for dialogue with the PTI first.
• Tags: PPP, Sharjeel Memon, K-P emergency, governor’s rule, PTI, Sindh, Green Line BRT
• Original element: explainer context plus own data point — links to Feature Pakistan’s earlier emergency-arc coverage (Shehbaz-Zardari meeting, Shehbaz briefing allies, joint session endorsement, Bilawal’s dialogue offer), explaining the PPP’s reluctant position inside the coalition
• Source: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2635825/sharjeel-says-ppp-was-last-party-to-support-emergency-in-k-p-1 (Tribune, published 06:47 PKT 20 Oct 2026)
• Story date: 19 October 2026

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KARACHI: Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Monday said the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was the “last party” to support the imposition of governor’s rule and a state of emergency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), insisting the party had pressed for political dialogue as the first course of action.

Memon said the PPP had asked the federal government repeatedly to resolve the K-P crisis through talks before the emergency was imposed on October 11.

“PPP was the last party that was in favour of the governor’s rule. We tried to engage them, not once but ten times, and PPP told the federal government that it wanted to resolve issues through political dialogue, but after multiple attempts, if the K-P chief minister himself had an inclination towards the Taliban and terrorists and was not willing to agree, then the government could not let the people of K-P be left on their own at the mercy of the terrorists,” he said.

Emergency declared on October 11

The emergency and governor’s rule were declared on October 11 after negotiations between the government and the opposition failed, culminating in a PTI long march towards Islamabad that began on October 4.

A joint session of parliament later ratified the presidential proclamations imposing the emergency and governor’s rule in K-P, amid protests from the opposition benches.

A reluctant coalition partner

Memon’s remarks underline the PPP’s unease with the move, even as the party stays inside the ruling coalition. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had earlier offered dialogue to the PTI over the K-P crisis, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif briefed coalition allies on the governor’s rule decision as the standoff deepened.

The PPP has framed its position as a choice between a political settlement and the security situation in K-P, where the government says counterterrorism operations are under way in several districts. The party is the largest partner in the federal coalition, and its backing was needed for the parliamentary approvals that followed the October 11 proclamation.

Both houses of parliament approved the emergency under Clause 1 of Article 232 of the Constitution, and a joint session later adopted two separate resolutions ratifying the proclamations imposing the emergency and governor’s rule for two months.

Emergency challenged in court

The PTI has rejected the move and challenged the K-P emergency in the Peshawar High Court, calling it an unconstitutional attempt to seize control of the province.

The opposition has also claimed the emergency is aimed at the province’s mineral wealth, a charge the government denies. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Monday the emergency was imposed over terrorism concerns, not minerals, calling it “a peace game, not a power game” (The Express Tribune).

Remarks made at Green Line visit

Memon made the remarks during a visit to the Green Line BRT Operations Command and Control Centre in Karachi, where he received a briefing on the system’s operations, its integration with other transport projects, ridership and overall performance. The Green Line is Karachi’s bus rapid transit corridor, and the command centre monitors its daily operations.