PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has challenged the federal government’s reasoning for declaring an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Speaking to reporters outside Parliament on Wednesday, he argued that if security was the real concern, comparable measures should also be considered in other troubled areas, including Balochistan and the Katcha areas.
Gohar said the security situation alone could not justify the move, since other regions also continue to face security problems. “If the situation is bad, impose Governor’s Rule in Balochistan as well. If conditions are not right, impose emergency in the Katcha areas too,” he said.
Constitutional powers and provincial autonomy at stake
Gohar accused the federal government of effectively bringing back Article 58(2)(b) of the Constitution through the KP emergency. He contended that the step weakened parliamentary democracy and provincial autonomy.
Article 58(2)(b) was abolished through the Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment in 2010. Before that, it allowed the president to dissolve the National Assembly, which could pave the way for the removal of the prime minister and federal cabinet.
Gohar said the right answer to terrorism was to strengthen the provincial government rather than undercut it. “If you wanted to fight terrorism, you should have strengthened the provincial government,” he said.
Claims of obstruction in the KP administration
He warned that the emergency would erode provincial autonomy. He also alleged that the KP government had already been stripped of its authority, with federal officials refusing to cooperate with the provincial administration.
Gohar claimed that PTI ministers had been picked up and that deputy commissioners and district police officers were not following the provincial government’s instructions. He questioned how a chief minister could run a province effectively if district administration and police did not act on provincial directives.
PPP’s stance on Rangers deployment in Sindh
Referring to the deployment of Rangers in Sindh, Gohar questioned the Pakistan Peoples Party’s past response to similar security measures. He accused its leaders of taking a different position when their own province was affected.
He vowed that PTI would strongly protest against the imposition of emergency in KP.
