Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Wednesday approached the Peshawar High Court (PHC) challenging the imposition of Governor Rule and Emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and suspension of its provincial government, praying the court to declare the move unconstitutional.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar has filed a petition against the imposition of Governor’s Rule and Emergency in PHC. The petition was filed in the Peshawar High Court through Advocate Ali Zaman, contending that the imposition of Governor’s Rule and Emergency despite the presence of an elected democratic government was unconstitutional.
The petitioner has also requested the court to fix the petition for an early hearing.
The petition contends that the action violates Articles 1, 2A, 4, 9, 10, 10A, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 19A, 25, 130, 175(3), 232, 234 and 245 of the Constitution, and therefore seeks its declaration as null and void.
Addressing the house earlier in the day, Barrister Gohar has also accused the government of undermining democracy over the imposition of an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, alleging that terrorism was being used as a pretext. “You have launched an assault on democracy,” he said, alleging that someone else was hiding behind the terrorists in the area where the emergency had been imposed.
He further accused the government of rendering the entire country dysfunctional and said it had found an excuse in terrorism to impose a governor’s rule and an emergency in KP.
Separately, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, has strongly criticized the imposition of an emergency and Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, calling for the immediate withdrawal of both decisions.
Speaking during a session of the National Assembly, Achakzai warned that an obsession with the use of force was extremely dangerous and urged the government not to complicate matters through wordplay. He reiterated his willingness to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the interest of the country and the Constitution.
“Place two chairs here in the House, and Shehbaz bhai and I can sit face-to-face to find solutions to the country’s problems,” he said. “The decision to impose an emergency is entirely wrong. Reverse it and choose the path of dialogue with the people.”
Defending former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, the opposition leader described him as a decent person who had never used abusive language but had simply urged people to stand up against oppression. He stressed that the government still had time to reverse what he described as unconstitutional decisions.
Referring to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who has come to be revered by many as a spiritual figure, or Qalandar and Peer, Achakzai questioned whether the government intended to turn Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan into a similar figure.
Achakzai also pledged to meet Imran Khan privately, without disclosing details to anyone, to assess his mental and physical condition and explore the possibility of resuming negotiations from where previous talks had stalled.
Highlighting widespread corruption and administrative shortcomings, the opposition leader alleged that corruption worth trillions of rupees was taking place in the country. He further claimed that more than 23,000 civilian and military bureaucrats held dual citizenship.
He urged the country’s relevant and sensitive institutions to investigate the matter and proposed that Federal Minister Khawaja Asif be appointed to head the inquiry committee established for this purpose.