Emergency declared in 12 districts under Article 232; powers shift to Governor Kundi
KP Assembly in session. PHOTO: AFP
PESHAWAR:
Governor’s rule has been imposed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) for the fourth time, transferring powers once again from the provincial government to the Governor.
The first imposition came in 1975 under the central government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. An emergency was declared after Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao was assassinated in a bomb blast while addressing a gathering at the Department of History of Peshawar University. The National Awami Party (NAP) was banned and arrests were made as the province came under Governor’s rule.
The second instance occurred in 1994 when Benazir Bhutto’s federal government moved against the Muslim League administration of Pir Sabir Shah. Assembly members were made to disappear, a no-confidence motion was brought against Chief Minister Pir Sabir Shah, and Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao subsequently formed the government.
The third imposition followed the 1999 counter-coup by then-army chief Pervez Musharraf against the Nawaz Sharif government. Muslim League Governor Mian Gul Aurangzeb was removed and replaced by Lieutenant General (retd) Muhammad Shafiq.
He was later succeeded by Lieutenant General (retd) Syed Iftikhar Hussain, who administered the province with his own cabinet until the formation of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government in November-December 2002.
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Now, for the fourth time, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government of Sohail Afridi has been suspended and Governor’s rule imposed. Governor Faisal Karim Kundi will run the province with an interim cabinet.
This latest imposition is unique in that emergency has simultaneously been declared in 12 districts of the province under Article 232 of the Constitution of Pakistan. The districts include the eight merged tribal districts (former tribal agencies), Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram, Orakzai, Bajaur, North Waziristan, South Waziristan Upper and South Waziristan Lower, along with the southern districts of Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bannu and Lakki Marwat.
The emergency applies fully in the Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions and partially in the Peshawar, Kohat and Malakand divisions. The Hazara and Mardan divisions remain exempt.
The disruption of internet services caused widespread confusion across the province.
