Peshawar, Oct 20 Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party and an allied political group on Tuesday criticised the emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, calling them an attack on democracy.
Speaking to the media after a court hearing, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, General Secretary Salman Akram Raja and Balochistan-based Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai said they had challenged the emergency and governor’s rule in court and wanted the political and constitutional dispute to be resolved through the judiciary.
The development comes a day after PTI filed an amended petition in the Peshawar High Court, challenging the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on constitutional grounds.
The leaders demanded the release of former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi and seven other party leaders who were taken into protective custody following the imposition of emergency in the province.
Barrister Khan said the federal government’s actions were undemocratic and unconstitutional, adding that the mistreatment of PTI workers continued.
He said his party had always described terrorism as a scourge and did not want to make any statement that could adversely affect efforts against terrorism.
PTI chairman maintained that the party had formed the provincial government but alleged that its mandate had subsequently been taken away.
He said PTI’s long march was continuing, adding that negotiations would have taken place by now if there had been a genuine intention to hold talks.
“This is no longer the time for negotiations but for practical action,” he said, demanding the release of former chief minister Sohail Afridi and other party members.
General Secretary Raja said the imposition of emergency was an attack on provincial autonomy and democracy.
He argued that a resolution of the provincial assembly was required for the imposition of an emergency and that governor’s rule could be imposed only when the provincial government was unable to function.
He also alleged that the sanctity of homes and the privacy of citizens were being violated in the province.
Meanwhile, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Achakzai said political disputes should be settled through courts, warning that otherwise matters could spill onto the streets.
He said the 1973 Constitution had been framed after great difficulty and recalled that Article 58(2)(b) had been used to dissolve elected governments in the past.
Article 58(2)(b) of the Constitution allows the President to unilaterally dissolve the National Assembly and dismiss the cabinet. This discretionary power applies if the federal government cannot constitutionally operate, making a fresh public election necessary.
Achakzai said his party had no personal enmity with either Nawaz Sharif or Asif Ali Zardari, adding that Afridi, as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, had represented around 40 million people and had been ridiculed.
He urged people to stage peaceful protests against the government, saying the final phase of the struggle had begun.
Speaking to the media, he also referred to the protests in France against inflation and claimed that large numbers of people had taken to the streets and set fires, but police had not fired a single bullet.
(PTI News)
