ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday rejected the recent imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, terming the measures an unconstitutional assault on the public mandate, and vowed to resist them through legal, parliamentary and peaceful public mobilisation.
In a unanimous declaration issued after a two-day joint meeting of its political committee and core committee, the party condemned the actions taken on October 11, including the establishment of a council and measures it said were intended to render the elected provincial government ineffective or dissolve it.
PTI argued that politically undermining an elected government would revive authoritarian practices associated with the country’s past, drawing parallels with the repealed Article 58(2)(b) of the Constitution.
It said the measures violated constitutional supremacy, provincial autonomy, federalism and democratic principles, and declared it would not accept them.
PTI condemned the alleged abduction and illegal detention of the KP chief minister, assembly speaker, ministers and lawmakers, demanding their immediate recovery, protection of their legal rights and action against those responsible.
PTI also raised concerns over the treatment of Imran Khan’s three sisters, alleging that their grievances had remained unresolved for a month and demanding protection of their fundamental, constitutional and legal rights.
The declaration accused authorities of conducting a nationwide crackdown on PTI leaders, office-bearers, workers and supporters through raids, arrests, harassment and politically motivated detentions.
According to figures presented at the meeting, more than 1,500 party workers were arrested during the street movement in Punjab. Hundreds were subsequently detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO), particularly Section 3, while several remained imprisoned, the party claimed.
PTI alleged that workers whose MPO detention periods were expiring were being rearrested under fresh orders instead of being released.
It termed the practice an abuse of legal powers, a violation of civil liberties and an organised campaign of political retaliation.
The party also condemned continued detentions of workers arrested during the movement in Sindh, alleging that supporters remained imprisoned or held under MPO orders. It extended its condemnation to arrests in KP, Balochistan and Islamabad, as well as raids on the homes of party leaders, workers and their families.
The meeting reviewed what PTI described as violations of the fundamental rights of incarcerated party chairman Imran Khan and other political prisoners, demanding protection of their constitutional and legal entitlements.
The party alleged that arrests and harassment had intensified after the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in KP, linking the actions to political retaliation.
PTI vowed to challenge the measures on all constitutional, legal, parliamentary and peaceful public platforms.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026