Federal officials weigh emergency measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Federal officials were weighing emergency measures and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as political tensions rose amid a protest march by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, but no formal decision to impose either measure had been confirmed by Sunday, October 11. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said there was no room left to avoid imposing an emergency in the province. Information Minister Ataullah Tarar confirmed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had called a federal cabinet meeting for Sunday to discuss emergency and governor’s-rule options. Reports on Saturday described discussions of a possible emergency covering 12 districts, including merged districts. Other accounts referred more broadly to possible measures affecting the province. The scope and administrative arrangements remained unsettled in the information available, and the reports did not establish that emergency rule had been formally imposed. Sources cited in reports said leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party had agreed on a plan to bring the province under federal control.