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Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday suspended the government of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, ruled by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, after declaring a state of emergency, his office said.
Zardari signed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advice to declare an emergency following a federal cabinet decision, the presidency said in a statement on X.
The advice said the provincial government had failed to fight armed militancy, according to Sharif’s office.
The leader of a northern Pakistan province ruled by the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was also arrested after the region was placed under emergency rule, a lawmaker from his party said.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) politician Junaid Akbar said on X that Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was arrested along with the party's president in the province.
The move strips Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of its only provincial government as thousands of his supporters march toward Islamabad to demand his release, deepening a confrontation between the party and the state.
The emergency, invoked under two constitutional articles dealing with security, grants the federal government sweeping administrative powers over the province.
The presidency did not specify how the province would be administered.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had said talks with the PTI collapsed over the party’s refusal to cooperate on a counterterrorism policy for the province, which borders Afghanistan and has seen rising terrorist attacks.
The PTI denied that explanation.
PTI spokesman Zulfikar Bukhari called it a "ridiculous decision," saying Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had the country’s "only legitimately elected government."
"This will only lead to further bloodshed, instability and collateral damage," Bukhari said, adding the move showed negotiations were never the government’s intention.
The march, led by provincial Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, began after talks between the government and the PTI broke down. "I call upon you all to come out, the youngsters to come out for the sake of your leader who is sitting in jail," Afridi said.
"I still ask them to come to their senses. End your long marches and sit-ins. Once you end them, we will certainly sit down with you and talk," Sharif said Tuesday.
The government has vowed not to let marchers enter Islamabad, where police and paramilitary forces are deployed and shipping containers barricade the government district. "We will finish it once for all," Naqvi said.
Khan, 74, has been jailed since August 2023 and describes himself as a political prisoner. The government and military deny that, as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa standoff escalates.
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