Pakistan: President puts Khan stronghold province under emergency rule

President Asif Ali Zardari has effectively suspended the provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a stronghold of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, according to DW News. The northwestern state is an epicenter of support for Khan and has been run by his party. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday announced that the northwestern Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been put under emergency rule, effectively removing power from former Prime Minster Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The imposition of emergency rule comes as thousands of Khan supporters continue to stage anti-government protests and demand the former leader be released from jail. Current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif proposed the move, which Zardari signed into order on Sunday. The suspension of regional government was justified under constitutional articles that allow the central government to confront security threats and give it sweeping powers in emergency situations. Sharif's government claims regional authorities have not done enough to curb Islamist violence in the province.

According to Al Jazeera English, authorities in Pakistan have announced a state of emergency in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The state of emergency was invoked on Sunday under two articles of the constitution dealing with security. It effectively suspends the provincial government run by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. President Asif Ali Zardari said in a social media post he had approved the recommendations made by the cabinet, which had held a meeting under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier in the day. A statement issued by Sharif’s office said cabinet members reviewed the situation and took note of the “provincial government’s deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism”.

The move comes as the PTI has been preparing for a march on the capital, Islamabad, to demand the release of Khan, who has been in jail for more than three years but still commands widespread popularity across the country. The march was originally scheduled for September 27 but was postponed until October 4 to allow talks between the government and the PTI leadership to take place. The government, however, said it would not allow the march to enter the capital and has been preparing for weeks to prevent the arrival of PTI demonstrators in Islamabad. It has erected barriers using shipping containers to block main access routes to the capital.

PTI spokesman Zulfikar Bukhari said the decision to invoke the state of emergency would only lead to “further bloodshed, instability and collateral damage”, the Reuters news agency reported. He said there was room for talks, but the latest decision showed the government never intended to hold negotiations.