ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said that President Asif Ali Zardari has invoked Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif following detailed consultations and unsuccessful negotiations with the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
On Saturday, he announced the key federal cabinet decision during a joint press briefing, declaring emergency rule and Governor’s Rule in KP under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution. He was joined by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry, and Samar Haroon Bilour.
He said the government has also issued a fresh proclamation under Article 245 to provide assistance to the provincial administration through the armed forces, describing the move as an effort to bring greater coordination to counterterrorism operations.
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Nazeer Tarar said the constitutional measures were taken in response to what he described as an exceptionally serious security situation, with terrorist attacks and extremist activities posing a grave threat to lives and property in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said Article 149 (4) empowered the federal government to issue directions to provinces on matters relating to public order and the security of Pakistan.
Article 232 deals with the proclamation of an emergency in qualifying circumstances involving threats to the security of Pakistan or any part of the country, while Article 234 provides for action when the constitutional machinery of a province is considered unable to function in accordance with the Constitution, he maintained.
He said the government has previously been asked whether it was considering an emergency and had maintained that any decision would be taken only when sufficient material has available to justify the exercise of presidential powers within the constitutional framework.
Tarar said the security situation along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, combined with internal threats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has created circumstances that warranted the use of these constitutional provisions.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the day has been difficult and outlined the government’s efforts to establish contact with the K-P government over the preceding month. He said he had personally remained in contact with the provincial government during the process, while discussions were also taking place over the planned long march and other matters.
Naqvi said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had been scheduled to leave for New York on September 17 and that it had been decided he would meet the opposition before departing.
He said the government had decided to form a committee and arrange a meeting on September 15 or 16, but received no response. Despite that, he said, contacts continued.
He maintained a meeting had also taken place between the president and the prime minister, during which he suggested bringing the K-P government on board.
He added that a draft was revised four times the following day, but when the matter appeared to have been finalised, the government learned that a new draft had arrived.
Naqvi said the government made repeated attempts to reach an understanding with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, with the final contact taking place at 11.45pm the previous night. “I told them that even at that point, something could still be done, but there was no response,” he said.
He said the government proposed a paragraph during negotiations but received no reply. He added that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had also met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Naqvi said the government had never demanded that PTI call off its planned sit-in, adding that its primary concern had been terrorism. “The condition to postpone the sit-in had come from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), not his ministry”, added that the security situation in KP had deteriorated significantly, with people in some districts unable to venture outdoors after evening.
Naqvi described the emergency as a difficult decision taken after repeated attempts to avert the situation. He claimed that 518 police personnel had been martyred over the preceding 18 months.
He also referred to the death of an Election Commission official the previous day, citing it as an indication of the security challenges facing the province. He said he had held several meetings with K-P Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, during which terrorism had been the main subject of discussion.
The minister said that he had asked Afridi about to strengthen police in affected districts. He said the chief minister had cited a lack of funds, to which he had responded that the federal government would provide the required resources. Naqvi further claimed that provincial representatives had agreed during negotiations that emergency measures should be introduced in certain districts.
The minister said the federal government could not continue losing security personnel to terrorism while the provincial government failed to take ownership of the fight.
However, Attaullah Tarar accused the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government of poor governance and called the party a branch of the TTP, alleging it spends provincial funds on protests instead of counter-terrorism.
Tarar said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had received 700 billion rupees through Pakistan’s National Finance Commission for development projects but had failed to strengthen the Counter Terrorism Department.
He said the provincial government had also failed to establish forensic laboratories or install “safe city” surveillance cameras in the merged districts and at entry and exit points across the province. He also alleged that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was using these financial resources to organise political protests.
The information minister also accused PTI of keeping the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in difficult conditions in pursuit of the release of the PTI founder, who remains in prison.
From the very first day, he said this was his opinion that they (PTI) are the B-team of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, he said.
He also accused the party of facilitating the return of people linked to armed groups and questioned how long security forces should continue clearing areas of militants if, as he alleged, the same individuals were later allowed to return.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026