PTI to challenge emergency measures and governor’s rule — The Express Tribune

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Gohar Ali Khan said that he will personally challenge the emergency measures and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province before the Peshawar High Court. He also said that PTI will continue its march and protests, The Express Tribune reports.

At a press conference outside parliament in Islamabad, Gohar called October 11 a “black day” in the history of Pakistan’s democracy. He said that at a parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday, the party will decide how to counter the decisions in the provincial assembly. The politician demanded that the measures be revoked and said PTI would use all available legal mechanisms.

Court petition

A separate petition against the emergency measures and governor’s rule has already been filed with the Peshawar High Court. The petitioner, lawyer Salman, named President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi as respondents.

The petition states that the decisions are unconstitutional, unlawful, and made in bad faith, and that they violate fundamental rights, provincial autonomy, and the democratic mandate. The petitioner asked the court to declare the decisions void and suspend the order on governor’s rule until the case is finally heard.

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Opposition reaction

Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, said opposition parties would hold peaceful protests across Pakistan while remaining open to negotiations with the authorities. He also claimed that the security situation in Balochistan is worse than the circumstances used by the authorities to justify the emergency measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The leader of the opposition in the Senate, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, also rejected the federal authorities’ decision. He called for unity in the fight against terrorism and questioned the grounds for imposing emergency measures specifically in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Amid the breakdown of negotiations between the authorities and the opposition, as well as the continuation of the PTI march, President Asif Ali Zardari approved Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recommendation to impose emergency measures in the province. The proclamation states that the provincial government did not take sufficient steps to counter terrorism and that the governor reported a breakdown of the constitutional order. After the measures were imposed, the head of the provincial government, ministers, advisers, special assistants, and the advocate general lost their positions, while the federal government authorized the deployment of the army to protect citizens, property, and state facilities.