The federal government has installed a new top bureaucrat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and posted a senior officer from the Prime Minister’s Office to the province, as it moved to take charge of KP’s administration under the emergency and governor’s rule imposed on Sunday.
Dr Muhammad Fakhr Alam Irfan was appointed chief secretary of KP with immediate effect and until further orders, according to an official notification, Dawn and The Express Tribune reported.
Who are the new officers?
- Dr Muhammad Fakhr Alam Irfan: a Grade 22 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), he was serving as secretary of the Power Division in the Ministry of Energy. He is from Mardan.
- Muhammad Yahya Akhunzada: a Grade 20 PAS officer, he was an additional secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office. His services have been placed at the disposal of the KP government under Section 10 of the Civil Servants Act, 1973. He is from Charsadda, and has served as additional political agent for North and South Waziristan, as KP’s secretary of health, information and education, and as commissioner of Dera Ismail Khan.
Before the decision, sources said the proposals included replacing the incumbent chief secretary with “a new, stronger administrator” to oversee provincial affairs, and that other senior officials could also be transferred.
Twelve districts in focus
According to sources cited by The Express Tribune, the federal government had been considering an emergency in 12 districts:
- eight merged tribal districts: Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai, Bajaur, Mohmand, North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Lower South Waziristan
- four settled districts: Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bannu and Lakki Marwat
Another proposal under consideration would transfer certain important provincial powers to the federal government, the sources said.
‘We have no room left’
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, speaking informally to journalists before the decision, said the government’s options had narrowed. “What scope remains for not imposing an emergency?” he asked. “We have no room left now.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also called JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and invited him for a meeting, which Fazl accepted. Sources said Fazl favoured giving political negotiations more time, and that the PTI had stayed in contact with him.
Governance charge
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had accused the PTI government on Saturday of neglecting governance in favour of securing the release of its jailed founder. “The hours that should have been spent on governance have instead been spent plotting to secure the release of a prisoner,” he said, alleging that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had devoted “virtually zero hours to governance”.
How long it can last
Under Article 234, a governor’s rule proclamation must be approved by a joint sitting of Parliament within two months, and can be extended two months at a time, up to a maximum of six months. Separate sessions of the National Assembly and Senate are due on October 13.
Why it matters
The appointments are the first visible sign of how the Centre will run KP while governor’s rule lasts. With a new chief secretary and a senior officer from the Prime Minister’s Office in place, day-to-day administration now answers to Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and the federal government rather than the PTI’s elected provincial cabinet.
This article draws on reporting by Dawn and The Express Tribune.
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