Pakistan declares emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amid ex-PM Imran Khan supporters protest; provincial government ceases to exist

Pakistan has imposed emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a stronghold of Imran Khan’s PTI, citing deteriorating law and order and security concerns amid anti-government protests demanding the jailed former prime minister’s release.

Pakistan imposed emergency rule in its northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, the President’s Office said, following anti-government protests by supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and violence involving armed groups in the country’s northwest.

Thousands of Khan’s supporters have been marching across the province, demanding his release and voicing criticism of the government amid mounting economic hardships.

The emergency measures, invoked under two provisions of Pakistan’s Constitution concerning security, grant the federal government extensive administrative powers over the province.

President Asif Ali Zardari signed the order following recommendations citing concerns over the law-and-order situation and the failure of negotiations with government delegations, his office said.

An image released by President Asif Ali Zardari’s office showed him signing the order to enforce the emergency measures. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said earlier the decision had been taken over the "deteriorating law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and... from the provincial government's deliberate indifference in the war against terrorism".

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a political stronghold of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), will see its PTI-led provincial government sidelined under the extraordinary constitutional provisions invoked on Sunday.

PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan called the move "an extremely alarming and grave political mistake and an undemocratic measure".

"The people will never accept such actions against their rights," he posted on X.

Security was tightened in Peshawar, the provincial capital, on Sunday, an AFP reporter observed, while roads in several other cities across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained closed.

Supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) launched a series of “long march” protests between towns and cities across the province a week ago, following the collapse of negotiations with the government.

Imran Khan, a highly popular former cricket star, has been in prison since August 2023 and faces dozens of charges, including corruption, treason and inciting violence, following widespread anti-establishment riots in May of that year.

Khan and his legal team have denied the allegations, describing the cases against him as politically motivated attempts to undermine his popularity and sideline him from politics.

The government had attempted to prevent the Opposition from staging a show of strength. However, it had also made negotiations over the PTI’s demands conditional on an agreement regarding security measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the party is in power.

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