By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is preparing to consult his coalition partners on whether to take direct control of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the north-western province run by Imran Khan’s party, days before a planned march on Islamabad.
Sharif is expected to meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a key ally in his coalition, according to a source in the Prime Minister’s House quoted by Dawn newspaper. The imposition of governor’s rule in the province is likely to be on the agenda.
The talks follow a visit by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to Zardari in Karachi, which was widely seen as significant given the debate over the province. The newspaper reported that the prime minister decided to take the president and the PPP into confidence after that meeting.
Sources close to the prime minister said no meeting had yet been held under his chairmanship to discuss governor’s rule or an emergency, and that he would decide after consulting senior leaders. Sharif returned only recently from a 13-day trip to the United States and the United Kingdom.
Federal ministers have been less guarded. On Wednesday, delegations from the governing PML-N and the PPP met in the chamber of the National Assembly speaker. The PPP’s Sherry Rehman and Syed Naveed Qamar sat down with Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry to discuss the province’s future.
Afterwards, Tarar told reporters that governor’s rule was a constitutional right that could be used when the situation required it. “In KP, people are martyred every day,” he said.
Chaudhry said an emergency under Article 232 of the Constitution was under consideration because of terrorism. It could be imposed “not because of any political reason”, he said, and he claimed the PPP would back the government on security matters. He later said the provincial government’s failure to curb militancy was the reason the option was being discussed.
Rana Sanaullah, the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs, said on television that Sharif had been briefed on the political situation soon after returning from the US. He said Sharif had also been told the government reserved the right to impose an emergency under the Constitution.
The warnings mark a hardening of the government’s line. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said last week that Islamabad had no intention of imposing governor’s rule in the province. Amir Muqam, another federal minister, has since said Governor Faisal Karim Kundi would lead the process if it came to that, and suggested the chief minister should prepare for jail rather than a march. Kundi, a PPP figure, urged the provincial government not to force the centre’s hand. Tarar has since called talk of governor’s rule premature, while accusing the provincial government of governance failures and pointing to major attacks in Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan.
Under Pakistan’s constitution, the president can assume certain functions of a provincial government, or have them exercised through the governor, if satisfied that the province cannot be run in line with the constitution. Parliament must approve such a proclamation.
The PPP’s position is not entirely settled. Nayyar Bukhari, the party’s general secretary, said it would offer recommendations within the framework of the constitution if asked about governor’s rule. He described the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as “extremely alarming” and said residents in parts of the province, including the chief minister’s home district, were staying indoors after dark. He also accused the PTI of prioritising the release of one individual over public problems, and criticised its use of provincial resources and government authority for a march on Islamabad.
Bukhari added that the PPP had always favoured dialogue, even with its fiercest opponents.
The opposition Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Aain Pakistan (TTAP) alliance, which includes the PTI, has complained to PPP leaders about what it called a sudden change of stance. It said Bukhari had earlier described governor’s rule as unconstitutional. He denied changing his position, saying the PPP would consider any formal government proposal and that the final decision rested with the president. The alliance is also seeking PPP attendance at an all-parties conference, an invitation Mr Bukhari said he would pass to Mr Bilawal.
The PTI has refused to back down. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s chief minister, Sohail Afridi, said at a press conference in Peshawar on Tuesday that the “Oct. 4 long march will take place at all costs”, and said supporters should come unarmed and protest peacefully. The march was originally due on 27 September but was postponed after authorities blocked major roads and deployed thousands of police and paramilitary personnel in and around the capital. The PTI changed the date without consulting its TTAP allies, who distanced themselves from the decision.
Details of the route remain unclear. Afridi has said supporters will first gather in Swabi, while party sources told the Express Tribune the PTI had decided in principle to start from the province’s southern districts, with Karak and Dera Ismail Khan under consideration. PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has urged the government to avoid governor’s rule or an emergency, saying the protest would be peaceful and political.
The march is the latest in a series of protests demanding the release of Khan, who has been in jail since 2023 and faces multiple criminal cases. He and his party say the cases are politically motivated, which the government denies. The PTI’s last major march on Islamabad, in November 2024, ended in clashes between protesters and security forces.
Sharif is also expected to try to reduce pressure elsewhere. Dawn reported that he may meet Mehmood Khan Achakzai, the National Assembly opposition leader, who was invited to talks before the prime minister left for the US. A meeting before 4 October, the paper said, would serve the government’s interests.
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