PTI to launch legal battle against governor’s rule in KP

ISLAMABAD  –  A day after the imposition of an emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said on Monday it would remain part of the system rather than quitting Parliament and provincial assemblies in protest and challenge the federal government’s controversial actions in court.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership including party interim Chairman Gohar Ali Khan and Secretary General Salman Akram Raja held a meeting with the Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP)—an opposition alliance—leaders at the Parliament House.

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The meeting discussed the situation arising out of the imposition of a state of emergency and governor’s rule that dislodged the PTI’s elected government in KP, according to an announcement made by the opposition alliance.

From the TTAP side, opposition leaders in the National Assembly and the Senate, Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Raja Nasir Abbas, were in attendance.

PTI Secretary General Raja said after the meeting that their parliamentary party had decided not to quit the assemblies in protest as it would be counterproductive.  “We will raise our voice at every level, inside and outside Parliament,” he said. It would be futile to leave space for the government in a system that had lost its credibility, he said.

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His remarks came days after some firebrand leaders of his party had said the PTI would resign en masse from the National Assembly, the Senate and provincial assemblies if their KP government was dismissed unceremoniously.

Raja said it happened only in civilized countries that parliament would stop working and new elections were announced if the opposition resigned but the situation was different here.

 “We will resist at every level and hold our protest that will be peaceful, constitutional, legal and effective,” he said.

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Addressing a news conference at the Parliament House after the meeting, Chairman Gohar urged the Centre to reverse its decision of imposition of the emergency and governor’s rule in KP and reinstate the provincial government immediately.

October 11 would be remembered as a “black day” in the democratic history of the country, he said, noting that the KP government having two thirds majority was dismissed on the day. He said over 1500 workers of the party had been detained beside the sisters and wife of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan. “We will raise our voice at every forum against whatever steps have been taken (by the Centre),” he said.

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The chairman said the parliamentary party of the PTI would meet today before the NA session to decide their mode and extent of the protest in Parliament.

PTI would challenge the October 11 steps before the Peshawar High Court (PHC) today, Gohar said, warning that the federal government had crossed the red line. He said the federal government had been making a wrong narrative for dismissing the government, accusing it for dividing public opinion on counterterrorism.

“Our long march and protest continue as we don’t accept this,” he said.

In a separate statement, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said the party would continue its “peaceful democratic struggle through courts, Parliament, provincial assemblies and public mobilisation until justice was achieved.”

“The authority of KP’s elected institutions flows from the will of the people, not from the dictates of the federal government. An unelected advisory council cannot replace a government elected by the people,” he said. The public mandate, constitutional supremacy and provincial autonomy must be respected, he added.

He said the failure to respect the electoral outcome and the political confrontation contributed to a national tragedy whose consequences remained deeply significant.

Akram questioned Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif administration’s justification for suspending the provincial government, adding that terrorism required coordinated national action rather than political confrontation.

He said the PTI would continue “peaceful” public mobilisation until the elected government’s authority and the constitutional rights of the people of KP were restored.

The information secretary demanded immediate reversal of the emergency and governor’s rule, urging for meaningful dialogue to resolve the country’s political crisis.

Meanwhile, TTAP spokesperson Hussain Ahmad Yousafzai said a meeting of the opposition’s joint parliamentary party would be held today. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his party had also been invited to the meeting, he said.

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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday chaired the first meeting of the monitoring committee formed to oversee affairs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, sources said.

The meeting reviewed the situation in the province following the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule, according to the sources.

The participants also discussed the future course of action to address the law and order situation in KP, the sources said. Matters related to providing relief to the people of the province were also taken up during the meeting, they added.

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