President Zardari Approves Emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as PTI Long March Looms

President Asif Ali Zardari has approved an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, clearing the way for federal action against the PTI-led provincial government. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry reportedly carried the cabinet's summary to the Presidency. The approval followed a federal cabinet recommendation that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif advise the president to invoke Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution.

The cabinet said ministers reviewed a worsening law and order situation and what the federal government described as the provincial administration's deliberate disengagement from counterterrorism efforts. PM Shehbaz told the cabinet his government's patience had run out, saying the situation had reached a point where decisive action could no longer be delayed. He said the government would not permit the PTI's planned long march to move towards Islamabad and warned that the law would take its course, questioning whether protesters sought a repeat of scenes from earlier demonstrations.

According to the prime minister, talks held in coordination with the Pakistan Peoples Party ran for two days and appeared close to an agreement before stalling when the other side said the draft needed to be shown to the chief minister. He said the government then asked PTI to call off its march but received no reply, and that JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was approached to help resolve the dispute.

KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said in a statement on X that the province would not abandon its constitutional and legal demands, insisting the federal government had no option but to accept them. He argued that such steps taken without formally imposing emergency or governor's rule would amount to rebellion, and challenged the federal government to state its intentions clearly. Afridi said the long march would continue lawfully until the demands were met, warning that people would forget the example of Türkiye once emergency or governor's rule was announced.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police issued operational guidelines for handling possible violent protests, under instructions from the office of Inspector General Zulfiqar Hameed. Officers were told to issue warnings first, then use tear gas, with rubber bullets and pepper-ball guns authorised if demonstrators refuse to disperse, followed by baton charges, warning shots and arrests. The orders, issued under Sections 83 to 88 of the KP Police Act 2017, direct district police officers to personally supervise protest duties, with security tightened at police stations, government offices, petrol pumps, banks, shopping centres, highways and other sensitive sites.

President Zardari also met KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Interior Minister Naqvi to discuss the country's overall security situation, particularly the deteriorating law and order in the province. A Presidency statement said the president was briefed on security challenges facing the country and the province, in a meeting that came amid growing speculation about emergency or governor's rule. Naqvi separately told journalists informally that the federal government had exhausted its options for avoiding emergency measures in KP, according to Daily Pakistan.