Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Mehmood Khan Achakzai criticised the federal government on Monday over the emergency and governor’s rule imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, asking why Balochistan, which recorded more terrorist attacks in August, had been left alone. Achakzai on KP emergency drew the comparison while speaking to reporters outside Parliament House in Islamabad, a day after the federal cabinet suspended the PTI-led provincial government.
The federal government imposed a state of emergency in 12 districts of KP on Sunday and placed the province under governor’s rule, citing what it called the provincial government’s deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the cabinet meeting that approved the measures, and the emergency and governor’s rule were then imposed with the president’s approval.
Achakzai on KP emergency: why Balochistan was spared
Achakzai alleged that there was no writ of the state in half of Balochistan, yet no emergency had been imposed there. He claimed the reason was that the chief minister in Balochistan was a favourite of the federal government. The figures he pointed to come from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, which recorded 199 terrorist attacks across Pakistan in August. Of those, KP, excluding the merged districts, recorded 54 attacks, while Balochistan recorded 89.
The opposition alliance had already condemned governor’s rule as unconstitutional and vowed to challenge it in courts and assemblies. Achakzai’s remarks gave that position a province-by-province test: if terrorism is the ground for intervention, the province with the higher attack count should have faced it first. The government says the KP decision rested on the provincial government’s refusal to cooperate on counterterrorism, and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has defended the emergency as a security measure, not a political one.
A democratic struggle, and a court challenge on Tuesday
Achakzai said the move would not be tolerated and that opposition parties would be asked to announce a democratic struggle from Tuesday in the areas where they hold influence. He stressed that the campaign would stay peaceful, with no abuse and no stones thrown. He described the imposition as an assault on the Constitution and democracy, and said resisting it was the duty of every Pakistani who values both.
He also returned to the question of access to jailed PTI founder Imran Khan. Achakzai said suspended chief minister Sohail Afridi had only been demanding access to Imran and medical treatment for him, and that the opposition would report only on Imran’s health if meetings were allowed. Achakzai has previously said the opposition will hold no talks without consulting Imran Khan. He repeated that the opposition was willing to negotiate while continuing its struggle, said he would meet government representatives at a personal residence rather than the Prime Minister’s House or the speaker’s chamber, and invited other parties to an all-parties conference on how the country should be run.
Senate Opposition Leader Raja Nasir Abbas, speaking alongside him, accused the government of attacking the Constitution and of dismissing a provincial government that held a two-thirds majority. He said the PTI government’s only fault was to seek consensus with political and religious parties on provincial questions, and he repeated the Balochistan point: if terrorism and peace were the issue, an emergency should have been imposed there first.
PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said he would challenge the emergency and governor’s rule in the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday. He said a parliamentary party meeting the same day would decide how the party protests inside Parliament. Gohar called October 11 a black day in Pakistan’s democratic history, noted that the chief minister and other party leaders were in custody, and criticised the holding of the provincial apex committee meeting under the new set-up. (Sources: Dawn)
Frequently asked questions
What did Achakzai say about the KP emergency?
Speaking outside Parliament House on Monday, Mehmood Khan Achakzai said the emergency and governor’s rule in KP would not be tolerated. He asked why Balochistan, which recorded 89 terrorist attacks in August against KP’s 54, had faced no such measure, and he announced a peaceful democratic struggle by opposition parties from Tuesday.
What happens next in the KP emergency dispute?
PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan says he will challenge the measures in the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday, and the party’s parliamentary meeting will decide its protest plan for Parliament. The opposition has also been invited to an all-parties conference proposed by Achakzai.
Why did the federal government impose governor’s rule in KP?
The federal cabinet said the provincial government had deliberately disengaged from the fight against terrorism. It imposed a state of emergency in 12 districts on Sunday, October 11, and placed the province under governor’s rule, a decision the government defends as a security measure.
