ISLAMABAD: A joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday approved resolutions endorsing the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by a vote of 214 to 56, giving parliamentary approval to the federal government’s measures announced on October 11.
Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry moved the two resolutions under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution. National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq chaired the sitting, which was attended by Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and other lawmakers.
The government had justified the measures by accusing the provincial government of “deliberate disengagement” from efforts to combat terrorism. The National Assembly and Senate had separately endorsed the emergency proclamation on Wednesday, while the relevant documents were presented in the joint sitting under the constitutional provisions governing emergency and governor’s rule.
Opposition lawmakers, largely belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), protested against the resolutions, chanting “emergency na manzoor” and displaying placards. At the start of the sitting, Chaudhry moved a motion to suspend certain notice-period requirements under the Parliament (Joint Sitting) Rules, 1973. After Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar supported a headcount, Speaker Sadiq ordered the vote. The procedural motion and both resolutions were subsequently approved by 214 votes to 56.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) supported the measures, while opposition members rejected them. The sitting began with Fateha for the victims of a school roof collapse in Peshawar earlier in the day, which killed several people, mostly children.
Addressing the House, Tarar said a special mechanism had been established to manage the province’s affairs during the period of emergency and governor’s rule. He said the federal cabinet had recommended the measures after reviewing reports on the security situation and that the president had approved them. The minister also referred to the approval already given by the two houses of Parliament to the emergency proclamation.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held an informal conversation with Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai during the sitting, inviting him to resume political and constitutional dialogue. The prime minister expressed concern over the prolonged deadlock over the appointment of the chief election commissioner and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan, saying the constitutional process should not become a subject of political manoeuvring.
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Sources said Achakzai listened to the prime minister’s proposal and the two agreed to hold a formal meeting soon. After Shehbaz left, PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz also spoke with the opposition leader.
Earlier, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called for renewed dialogue with the PTI. He said he would personally ask the prime minister to end the emergency if political circumstances made the measure unnecessary.
Opposition parties have described the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule as unconstitutional and demanded the restoration of the elected provincial government.
The parliamentary vote provides the required legislative approval for the measures under the constitutional provisions cited by the federal government.
