Pakistan imposed emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, invoking two constitutional articles dealing with security and effectively suspending 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 he had approved the cabinet’s recommendation after a meeting under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose office said the move followed the province’s deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism. The decree comes as PTI prepares a march on Islamabad to demand Khan’s release; he has been in jail for more than three years but still commands widespread popularity.
Shortly after the announcement, PTI lawmaker Junaid Akbar said Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had been arrested along with the party’s provincial president, a claim carried only by Al Jazeera so far. The president’s office did not specify how the province would be administered, though the constitution allows the federal government to take over some or all provincial functions during an emergency. The march was originally scheduled for September 27 but was postponed to allow talks between the government and PTI leadership; the government has meanwhile erected container barriers on the main routes into the capital. PTI spokesman Zulfikar Bukhari told Reuters the emergency decision would only lead to “further bloodshed, instability and collateral damage,” adding that there had been room for talks but the move showed the government never intended to negotiate.