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Days after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi staged an overnight sit-in outside Central Jail Rawalpindi (Adiala jail), Pakistani Junior Law and Justice Minister Barrister Aqeel Malik said that Governor's Rule was being considered in KP.
He cited "security and governance issues" in KP province to justify the imposition of Governor's Rule. Speaking at a Geo News programme, Malik said that Afridi and his team had "badly failed in having any sort of a workable situation". "Neither do they want to have any kind of coordination or cohesion with the Centre, nor do they take any action in areas where it was needed," Dawn reported him as saying. The Minister of State (MoS) maintained that the imposition of Governor's Rule in KP was a constitutional measure that was undertaken in case of "absolute necessity". Dawn quoted Malik as saying, "The situation in KP itself calls for a step to be taken in this regard so that the presence of an administrative structure is ensured there." The Minister said that the Pakistan government was "pondering over" the option to impose governor's rule in KP. In Pakistan, Governor's Rule is imposed on the advice of the Prime Minister under Articles 232 and 234 of the constitution, and only the president has the authority to take such a decision. However, when it was pointed out that under Article 234, a Governor could recommend the move to the president while the federal government had little to do with it, the state minister said the Governor's recommendation was just one option, Dawn reported. "The president can take this step on his own as well, the approval for which will later have to be taken by a joint sitting of [Parliament]," he said, adding that under the constitution, governor's rule could be imposed initially for two months, and it could later be extended further if required, Dawn reported. Malik also accused the KP government of "planning to block routes and cut off the province" from the rest of the country. Meanwhile, Dawn reported that KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi refused to acknowledge reports of his possible replacement. Instead, he told reporters that he would accept his party's decision if such a development occurred. However, last week, Kundi called on Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss reports about his possible replacement. Dawn reported that a source in the PM's office said that Sharif expressed full confidence in Kundi at the time and hinted that he was not being considered for replacement. This comes as KP CM Afridi staged an overnight sit-in outside Adiala jail earlier after being denied a meeting with PTI founder Imran Khan for the eighth consecutive time, Dawn reported. The protest began on Thursday afternoon and included members of the KP cabinet, with visuals shared by the PTI showing Afridi and party workers offering Fajr prayers outside the prison on Friday morning. According to Dawn, Afridi announced on the party's livestream that the sit-in was being wrapped up and that he would now approach the Islamabad High Court (IHC). (ANI)
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