Pakistan federal cabinet declares emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Pakistan’s federal cabinet has declared a state of emergency in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a move Pakistani media say was finalised after a review of the security situation and endorsed by the country’s president.
The Dawn newspaper reported that the decision was first approved at a federal cabinet meeting on Sunday, Oct. 19, and then signed off by President Asif Ali Zardari.
According to the report, Pakistan’s presidential office said the emergency was declared under Articles 232 and 234 of the federal constitution, which set out the legal framework for imposing emergency rule in a province.
Details released said the decision came shortly after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the federal cabinet meeting, where he was briefed on the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Prime Minister’s Office said documents were presented at the meeting that, according to federal officials, showed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government had “deliberately” stepped back from counterterrorism efforts. On that basis, cabinet members proposed that, given the “deteriorating” situation, the prime minister should ask the president to use his constitutional powers and impose an emergency in the province.
Article 232 of Pakistan’s federal constitution says that if the president is satisfied that a grave emergency exists and that Pakistan’s security, or that of any part of it, is threatened by war, external aggression or internal disturbances beyond the capacity of the provincial government to control, he may issue an emergency proclamation.
As these developments unfolded, Sharif told the cabinet meeting that he would not allow the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to undermine Pakistan’s economic stability. He added that, amid tensions between the two sides, the PTI-led provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should not be allowed to disrupt the process of economic stability.
According to reports, Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is now leading a large gathering of protesters who in recent days have launched a major march toward Islamabad.
Meanwhile, unrest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has risen sharply this year, and Pakistan’s federal government has blamed much of the insecurity on what it says is the provincial government’s lack of will to confront Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as well as on its allegation that the Afghan Taliban support the group.
