Pakistan on Monday declared a state of emergency in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the stronghold of former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI party, and suspended the PTI-dominated government.
The central government claimed these drastic measures were necessary because provincial leaders were not doing enough to contain an Islamist insurgency leaking over the border from neighboring Afghanistan.
PTI officials dismissed the official government explanation as merely an excuse to arrest opposition leaders and prevent Khan supporters from marching on Islamabad.
Khan, 74, was ejected from the prime minister’s office in 2022 by a vote of no confidence and has been jailed since 2023 on numerous corruption charges – all of which his supporters denounce as political fabrications created by the administration of current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to prevent Khan from making a political comeback.
PTI members have been rallying in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for days to prepare for the march on Islamabad, while government forces in the Pakistani capital have been blocking off roads and bracing for a siege.
Sharif asked PTI to postpone the march, due to the ongoing terrorist threat from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban – a violent insurgency that wants to overthrow Pakistan’s secular government and replace it with an Islamist caliphate modeled on the Afghan Taliban.
Just as the marchers were preparing to embark from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for their week-long journey to Islamabad, President Asif Ali Zardari declared a state of emergency in the province and suspended the government. Zardari’s office said he signed the orders after the “failure of negotiations” between provincial representatives and emissaries from Islamabad.
Police arrested several high-ranking PTI members, including the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a Khan ally named Sohail Afridi. The police said some would only be detained temporarily, while others could face serious criminal charges. India’s The Hindu quoted two anonymous Pakistani police officials who said a total of 278 PTI members were detained.
The Hindu also said schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were closed on Monday, and “major disruptions to Internet connectivity” were detected in the province.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said a provincial governor would be appointed for at least six months, or until the state of emergency is lifted.
PTI leaders and spokesmen sneered at Zardari’s order as an “ambush on democracy” and “a coup disguised as an emergency.”
The provincial governor, Faisal Karim Kundi, posted a video message saying that residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would welcome President Zardari’s order, because they want “peace, stability, development and prosperity rather than unrest and insecurity.”
Kundi urged the people of the province to “refrain from violating the law, inciting violence or engaging in rioting.”
