- Constitution allows president to proclaim emergency: Tarar.
- Cites rising terrorism incidents as major reason for KP move.
- Info minister says defunct KP CM rejected agreed arrangement.
ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Tuesday said that “no elected government has been overthrown” with the imposition of a governor’s rule and emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
“Constitution provides that, if the circumstances so warrant, the federal government, the prime minister and the president may take these decisions,” he said in a media briefing for international media alongside Information Minister Attaullah Tarar in Islamabad.
The remarks come after President Asif Ali Zardari proclaimed an emergency and governor’s rule in KP on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, citing the province’s worsening security situation.
The decision followed recommendations from the federal cabinet, formal advice from the prime minister and law-and-order reports submitted by relevant security institutions, the President Secretariat’s Media Wing said in a press release on October 11.
The statement also cited the breakdown of negotiations between the government delegation and the provincial leadership over the deteriorating security situation.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which ruled the KP since 2013, assailed the move and vowed to challenge it in the courts.
At the beginning of today’s briefing, the law minister said that the governor’s rule and emergency were imposed in the province under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution.
“The Constitution is the fundamental document that defines the system of government and procedures for dealing with different situations,” he said, explaining the constitutional basis for emergency measures.
Addressing the reasons behind the decision, the law minister said Pakistan had faced terrorism for decades and that the problem was not limited to recent years.
The law minister said terrorism incidents in KP had increased significantly in recent years, adding that various government institutions had shared terrorism-related data with the federal government.
Tarar said reports received by the federal government had been considered at the Prime Minister’s Office before the decision was taken.
He said the Constitution allowed the president to proclaim an emergency on the advice of the prime minister, adding that the prime minister’s advice and the president’s satisfaction formed part of the constitutional procedure.
The law minister rejected the suggestion that the measure had been taken for political purposes, arguing that such action could have been taken earlier if political considerations had been the objective.
No ‘two foreign policies’
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the federal government made several attempts to reach an agreement with PTI and the KP government on counterterrorism measures, but the provincial chief minister rejected an agreed arrangement.
“Our only agenda was non-political,” Tarar said, adding that the federal government wanted a united and agreed policy against terrorism.
The minister said that the PTI could have continued its political march and presented its other political demands, stressing that the federal government had not opposed its political activities. He said the only demand was a joint strategy to tackle terrorism.
Tarar said the government had attempted on several occasions to persuade the PTI and the provincial government through negotiations and discussions.
He alleged that the now-dysfunctional chief minister Sohail Afridi was unwilling to adopt a counterterrorism policy or implement a coordinated strategy against militant violence.
The information minister said Pakistan already had a National Action Plan and that high-level committee meetings were held to coordinate counterterrorism efforts.
“The question is why one province was reluctant to hold meetings of these high-level committees,” he said.
Tarar argued that a country could not maintain two foreign policies or two separate approaches to combating terrorism.
He said the federal government was seeking an end to safe havens for terrorists and wanted Afghan territory to be prevented from being used against Pakistan.
“It is not acceptable for the federal government to demand that Afghanistan stop terrorism while the provincial government follows a different policy,” he said.
The information added that the absence of meetings of apex committees in KP had created a clear divide between the provincial and federal governments.
The minister expressed concern over the provincial government’s “lack of interest” in the fight against terrorism, alleging that the provincial government had, on several occasions, expressed sympathy towards terrorists.
He alleged that in the southern districts of KP, terrorists had informally become part of the administrative structure and that the provincial government was not prepared to deal with them in accordance with the law.
