PAKISTAN’S Federal Government imposed an emergency under Article 232 and Governor’s Rule under Article 234 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on October 11, 2026. Approved by President Asif Ali Zardari on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advice, the move suspends the PTI-led provincial government and targets rising militant violence.
The Provincial Government of the PTI has been thrown out and the Chief Minister KP is cooling his heels in “Protective Custody” but the question agitating the mind of many is What Now? The conflict between the Federal Government and the PTI of KP had been going on since long culminating in the imposition of Governor’s Rule and Emergency in the KP. This action could have been avoided with better political management and sensible negotiations from both sides. The long rule of the PTI finally came to an end when the PTI Chief Minister refused to listen to reason when he insisted on his team to show the Federal Government down. KP was the safe haven and shelter of the PTI where they have ruled the roost for the last thirteen years and now due to the unbending and intransigent attitude of the chief executive of the province the PTI stands divided and alone in the wilderness. What Now? The heavy responsibility of bringing peace to the province rests with the Governor, the Advisory Council and the Federal Government.
Terror stalks the land and acts of terror like suicide bombings and attacks on the law enforc-ing agencies are happening almost every day resulting in the loss of lives and injuries to men in uniform. The Federal Government now has to get its act together and use all its resources at its command to bring peace and stability in the province or failure to do so will result in a catastrophe of unimagined proportions. Terror still rules the roost in the province and any further increase will result in the spread of this scourge to the settled areas of the province and then spill over to the other provinces too. If the situation in the province is not brought under control, there is a great danger that this could be turned into an ethnic conflict on the pattern of East Pakistan which will be almost impossible to control. The need of the hour now is to win the hearts and minds of the people of KP and to ensure that majority of the people stand with the efforts of the Government and if this is not done the consequences could be extremely dangerous for the very existence of the country.
The PTI now has a difficult uphill task before it. They have to reinvent themselves and come up with practical and workable methods to survive and fight back in the next general elections. They need a new strategy a different thought process and some new leaders with their hand on the tiller to navigate the stormy choppy waters that lie in their path. The PTI of today is more of a mob than a political party and it now needs to revert to the position of an organized political party. Pakistan today again stands at a crossroads and the present situation is definitely self-created and self-imposed in which the PTI played a major role. Such political conflicts could be self-satisfying for the PTI but such actions do not, in any way, contribute to nation building or political stability in the country.
With the imposition of Governor’s Rule and emergency in the Province, the PTI has lost the territory of one province where it could translate its public support into practical acts of bringing about change in the province. For the PTI workers and supporters this is another catastrophic disaster and for the party leadership this should be food for thought to think about where their political strategy is taking the party. There are no two opinions about the fact that the PTI now is up against the wall and has very limited options at its disposal. First it could launch a joint campaign against Governor’s Rule in collaboration with other political parties and the reputed elders of society. Secondly, if they want to satisfy its workers and protect them from more difficulties, they could intensify their struggle in Parliament, in the media and the social media without a change in their political narrative or else to increase political engagement with the existing system and the powerful establishment of the day. In a clever and well-crafted move the Federal Government has very easily managed to neutralize PTI’s institutional presence in the province. Article 234 has removed the PTI provincial cabinet and the Chief Minister and the party has been cut off from the provinces administrative system, official resources and the usual levers of governance.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad
