Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Monday said he would personally challenge the emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in the Peshawar High Court tomorrow, as the party vowed to continue its long march.
Speaking at a press conference outside Parliament alongside Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Opposition Leader in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Gohar said the party would decide at its parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday how to oppose the measures in the provincial assembly.
“We will raise our voices on every forum. Our long march is ongoing, and our protests are continuing. We will not accept this,” he said, adding that the demonstrations would continue.
Gohar called October 11 a “black day” in Pakistan’s democratic history, saying the people of K-P had rejected emergency measures and governor’s rule, and that the provincial chief minister had been kept in custody and claimed that supporters of the party were in jail.
“We demand that the measures taken on October 11 be withdrawn,” he said, adding that the party would challenge the decision through all channels. He said he would personally challenge the decisions taken on October 11 in the Peshawar High Court, adding that the party was also pursuing a legal challenge.
The PTI chairman accused the government of showing stubbornness and said the provincial government machinery had been changed abruptly. He said the party had remained in contact with the government until the very last moment, but the situation had deteriorated.
“The federation will be strong only when the provinces are strong,” he said.
Gohar urged the government not to divide the public in the fight against terrorism, calling terrorism a “menace for Pakistan”. He said Pakistan’s future lay in democracy and that the federation would only be strong when its provinces were strong.
Speaking alongside Gohar, Achakzai said that opposition parties would stage protests across Pakistan against the imposition of governor’s rule and emergency measures in K-P, vowing to continue a peaceful democratic struggle alongside efforts to negotiate with the government.
He said his party would direct opposition groups to protest according to their capacity and announce a democratic movement in every district where emergency measures had not been imposed.
“We will hold peaceful protests,” he said, adding that the opposition was ready for all forms of negotiations to achieve a democratic Pakistan.
Achakzai criticised the decision to impose governor’s rule and emergency measures in K-P, calling it a major attack. He said he had been raising concerns about the Constitution when the measures were imposed and argued that the situation in Balochistan was worse than the circumstances cited to justify governor’s rule in K-P.
“Balochistan’s chief minister is your blue-eyed boy, but you take no action against what is being looted there,” he said, adding that half of Balochistan had become a no-go area for security forces.
The opposition leader also criticised the government over the February 8 elections, alleging that people’s consciences had been bought and sold through money and coercion. He claimed that voters had elected the PTI founder Imran Khan but that the party had been denied its mandate.
Read: ‘Afridi, some of his cabinet members have been taken into preventive custody,’ confirms Talal
“Forty million people’s right to vote has been mocked,” he said, adding that Pakistan would progress only when Parliament was strong.
Achakzai said the Constitution provided for Parliament and the judiciary and stipulated that Parliament would formulate policies, with all institutions required to operate within constitutional limits. He added that Article 6 applied to those who violated the Constitution.
“The current government is the biggest terrorist,” he said, warning that political parties supporting what he called terrorism would become part of history. He also said that the PTI was not even being allowed to grieve over the theft of its mandate.
Achakzai called for permission to meet Imran, saying he was willing to provide a written assurance that he would not disclose anything discussed during the meeting. “This government wants Imran to leave the country, but he is not leaving,” he said.
He also rejected the suggestion that he did not want to meet the prime minister, saying he was willing to meet but would not go to the Prime Minister’s House or the Speaker’s Office. He said the opposition would continue its struggle against the existing system while pursuing negotiations.
Read more: Govt appoints Yahya Akhunzada to K-P administration
On the occasion, Raja Nasir Abbas also rejected the imposition of governor’s rule and emergency measures, saying the country was dealing with “deceivers and liars”. He said the unanimously agreed Constitution was being made controversial and accused the government of equating political workers with terrorists.
“We have to contend with those who violate the Constitution,” Abbas said, calling for unity in the fight against terrorism. “Let us join hands with the people of the province to fight terrorists,” he added.
Questioning the justification for imposing emergency measures in K-P, Abbas said the law and order situation in Balochistan was worse and argued that emergency should be imposed there instead. He warned that the situation could deteriorate further if the public did not stand together, saying matters had already gone too far.
Federal government imposes emergency, governor’s rule
As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) long march entered the end of its first week, the federal government imposed emergency measures and governor’s rule in K-P, escalating tensions between the centre and the province’s opposition-led political leadership.
PTI leaders rejected the imposition, calling the move undemocratic and vowing to challenge it through constitutional forums. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman also criticised the decision, accusing the federal government of backtracking on its commitments amid negotiations with the PTI over its long march. The Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Aain-e-Pakistan (TTAP), also condemned the measures and vowed to challenge them through the courts, assemblies and public forums.
Initially planning to launch the long march on September 27, Afridi on September 26 rescheduled the protest to take place on October 4 amid extensive security and traffic restrictions and continuing efforts to negotiate with the federal government.
Marathon talks between the government and the opposition on October 2 and 3 failed to find middle ground in an effort to ease tensions ahead of the long march, as both sides pressed competing demands and remained at an impasse. PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja later said that the deadlock in negotiations with the federal government emerged over the issue of the counterterrorism policy in K-P.
Amid prevailing tensions, the breakdown of negotiations, and Afridi proceeding with the march, President Asif Ali Zardari signed off on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recommendation to impose emergency rule in K-P amid a deteriorating security situation and the provincial government’s deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism.
The proclamation said the provincial government had failed to take adequate measures against terrorism and referred to the governor’s report highlighting a breakdown in the constitutional system.
The chief minister, provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants and advocate general ceased to hold office with immediate effect. The federal government subsequently authorised the deployment of Pakistan Army troops and assets under Article 245 to protect citizens, property and government installations for the duration of the emergency proclamation.
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