ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has defended the imposition of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying no provision of the Constitution and the law was violated in this regard.
He has also said that emergency would not have been imposed in KP had the government and the opposition reached an agreement.
Speaking at the maiden meeting of the 364th Senate session on Tuesday, the minister said that the government’s decision to impose emergency in KP did not constitute any constitutional or legal violation.
READ MORE: Emergency, governor’s rule imposed in KP as president approves cabinet decision
“You tell me which article of the Constitution was violated,” he said, addressing the opposition, referring to the statement of the Leader of the Opposition in Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas that the Constitution was violated with the imposition of emergency in KP.
“You can say this act is wrong— you can say this act is right— in our opinion, this is the right act,” he said.
Naqvi suggested the formation of a committee to determine if any law was violated in the proclamation of emergency in KP, adding that Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) “reviewed every clause” of the draft of the proclamation of emergency before it came into effect.
The opposition leader, the minister said, delivered a “highly emotional” speech in the House.
Regarding the government’s recent dialogue with the opposition, the interior minister said that the dialogue focussed on terrorism.
He said seven to eight points were discussed during these negotiations.
Naqvi, who is also a senator, said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Qaiser assured the ruling side that the opposition would stand with Pakistan on all the points against terrorism.
“We told him (Qaiser) that his viewpoint and that of the KP government did not match,” Naqvi said.
“We couldn’t allow that military and police personnel render martyrdoms but the chief minister (KP) was delivering statements against them,” he said.
Naqvi said the government never “tagged political statements with terrorism.”
The interior minister said six changes were made for the fourth time in the draft of the proposed agreement between the government and the opposition.
“We accepted all these changes—the draft was then shared with the CM KP, he texted this draft to Murad Saeed—and, thereafter, our two-day hard work went in vain,” he added.
Minister Naqvi said that the government had the option of imposing the emergency and the governor rule in KP on 26 November 2024.
Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the House in Senate Ishaq Dar also supported the imposition of the emergency and the governor rule in KP, saying that the terrorism “doubled” during the PTI government.
Earlier, Abbas, the Opposition Leader, said that the federal government “shattered the Constitution to bits” by imposing emergency in the KP. “If the entire system has failed, then why has the emergency been imposed in KP only. Why not in the entire Pakistan?” he asked.
“Was the situation in KP so bad that there was no other option except the imposition of emergency and governor rule?” he further asked.
Abbas demanded that the government immediately withdraw the emergency and the governor rule in KP.
He suggested that the differences between the two sides be resolved through dialogue “instead of aggravating the mistake.”
Earlier, during the start of the Senate session, Chairman Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani accepted the opposition leader’s request to suspend the question hour, and hold discussion on the imposition of emergency and governor rule in KP.
The Senate session was adjourned till today (Wednesday).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026