PM Shehbaz Calls Meeting on KP Situation Ahead of PTI March

ISLAMABAD : (Web Desk)Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has convened a high-level consultative meeting to review the security and political situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) planned October 4 march approaches.

According to reports, Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi will brief the meeting on the overall security situation, with particular focus on developments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The meeting is also expected to discuss ongoing political contacts with the PTI and possible constitutional options concerning the province. The options of imposing an emergency or Governor’s Rule in KP are reportedly under consideration, although no formal decision has been announced.

Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on September 30 that the government was seriously considering imposing an emergency in KP under Article 232 of the Constitution, citing the worsening security situation and what he described as an increase in terrorism.

The latest consultations come amid heightened political tensions between the federal government and the PTI-led KP administration over the party’s planned march towards Islamabad. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has maintained that the October 4 protest remains on the party’s schedule.

The PTI had initially planned the march for September 27 but later postponed it to October 4. The party has linked the protest to its political demands, while the federal government has raised concerns over security and law-and-order arrangements surrounding the planned mobilisation.

PML-N KP President Amir Muqam is also expected to brief the meeting on the situation in the province, according to sources.

Meanwhile, political consultations are continuing, with a meeting between National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan also scheduled as part of contacts between the government and opposition.

President Asif Ali Zardari has arrived in Islamabad and is expected to chair a meeting on the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A meeting between the president and prime minister is also expected as consultations continue.

The federal government had previously discussed both emergency and Governor’s Rule options, but reports on October 1 said no immediate step had been taken under either option.