Parliament approves KP emergency; PTI challenges it in court

Both houses of Parliament on Wednesday approved President Asif Ali Zardari’s proclamation of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by majority vote, despite objections from opposition lawmakers, as the PTI asked the Peshawar High Court to declare the move unconstitutional.

The National Assembly passed the resolution first, and the Senate followed later in the day as the opposition walked out in protest, The Express Tribune reported. The president has also summoned a joint session of Parliament for Thursday morning.

What the government said

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told the Senate that Article 232 requires a proclamation of emergency to be placed before both houses for approval within 10 days. He said the federal cabinet held a two-and-a-half-hour discussion before recommending the step, citing internal disturbances and cross-border incursions.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told the National Assembly that 3,900 people had been martyred in KP over 14 months, compared with 2,700 over the previous three years. “The opponent is the Pakistan state, and the ally is the Taliban whose hands are stained with the blood of our children,” he said, referring to a Taliban statement condemning the emergency and urging the opposition to clarify its alignments.

Bilawal’s offer

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari renewed his call for dialogue with the PTI. “Even today, I invite you to come and hold talks with the government and political parties and create conditions in which there will be no need for this emergency in KP,” he said, promising to personally ask the prime minister to end the emergency if those conditions were created.

He accused the PTI of a “political suicide attack” on its own provincial government, saying it could not deny its role in the circumstances that led to the decision.

Opposition objections

Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai strongly opposed the move, accused the government of undermining the electoral mandate and urged it to reverse its decisions. He warned that governor’s rule could next be imposed in Sindh over water and minerals.

PTI goes to court

PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has petitioned the Peshawar High Court, asking it to declare the October 11 proclamation “unconstitutional, ultra vires… and of no legal effect”, Dawn reported. The petition:

• Challenges: the proclamation, the order deploying army troops, the KP Advisory Council and all orders issued under the emergency
• Seeks: the restoration of Sohail Afridi as chief minister along with his cabinet
• Argues: that transferring the KP Assembly’s legislative powers to Parliament without a prior assembly resolution was “void ab initio”

The petition names the federation, the province, Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and the KP Assembly speaker as respondents. Gohar is represented by lawyers including Salman Akram Raja and Barrister Sameer Khosa.

Afridi’s custody

Afridi and other senior PTI leaders taken into protective custody on October 11 are being held together at an undisclosed location, Geo News reported. They include KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and MNA Junaid Akbar.

Why it matters

With both houses on board, the emergency now has the constitutional backing the government sought. The next test is in court, where the PTI is challenging every step taken under it. Read our reports on the resolution tabled in the National Assembly and on the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule.

This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune, Dawn and Geo News.