A joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday gave its approval to the Centre’s imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amid a strong protest from the opposition.
The joint session had been summoned to discuss separate resolutions on the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in KP, where the opposition’s PTI was in power.
During the session, which was addressed by both members of the treasury and opposition benches, the government justified its decision while the PTI lambasted the Centre and the allegations levelled against the party.
The Centre took the measures on Oct 11, citing the provincial government’s “deliberate disengagement” from the fight against terrorism. The move followed weeks of political tensions between the Centre and the PTI — as well as negotiations to bridge their differences — after the latter announced a long march to Islamabad to demand the release of its jailed founder, Imran Khan.
During Thursday’s joint sitting, opposition members turned up carrying placards inscribed with slogans, such as “emergency na manzoor (emergency is unacceptable)”.
PM Shehbaz, who attended part of the session, shook hands with opposition leaders of both the Senate and the NA, pictures and footage showed. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry tabled the two proclamations and separate resolutions regarding the emergency and governor’s rule.
After hours-long debate, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq put the two resolutions to a vote, while opposition members chanted “emergency unacceptable”. The resolutions approving emergency and governor’s rule were then passed.
At the outset of the proceedings, Chaudhry also presented a motion under Rule 232 of the Parliament (Joint Sitting) Rules 1973 to suspend certain sub-rules so he could move the resolutions.
As loud noes echoed and opposition members chanted “emergency na manzoor”, the speaker again put the motion to a vote by asking the members to stand up, which was then adopted with 214-56 votes.
Subsequently, Chaudhry moved two resolutions before the joint sitting — one for approving the Proclamation of Emergency under Article 232 and the second for the proclamation of governor’s rule under Article 234.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar then opened the discussion on the two resolutions and said members of the treasury benches were ready to reply to any query raised by the opposition.
The joint sitting also offered prayers for the lives lost, mostly of children, in a roof collapse in Peshawar.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday said the federal government had continued negotiations with the opposition and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government until the last moment in an effort to resolve outstanding issues and avoid the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule.
Speaking during the joint sitting of Parliament, he urged lawmakers from both sides who had participated in the negotiations to verify the facts, saying the federal government had neither walked out of the talks nor imposed any unreasonable deadline on the other side.
Naqvi said the federal delegation had waited for hours while the other side held consultations in a separate room.
He added that the government had repeatedly engaged in dialogue and made efforts to move the process forward.
He questioned how an effective counterterrorism strategy could be implemented if political leaders were unwilling to stand alongside security personnel for fear of political repercussions.
Naqvi said the federal government had made several concessions during negotiations with the opposition, including facilitating medical examinations and family visits to the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), but the process had failed to reach a successful conclusion.
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar defended the emergency proclamations in KP, saying the Constitution clearly laid down the procedure and the government had followed it.