Senator Faisal Vawda said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's present administrative setup can be replaced if it does not deliver. Speaking at a Faisal Vawda press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader said the province had "no chance for failure". He backed the emergency already in force and said the public would judge the setup by relief.
The remarks follow a change in who runs the province. Last Sunday, President Asif Ali Zardari imposed emergency and governor's rule, sidelining the PTI-led provincial government. He approved the summary on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's advice under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution, after recommendations from the federal cabinet and reports on law and order. Those articles are the constitutional provisions cited for this emergency and for governor's rule.
Who stays will depend on results
Vawda said he hoped Governor Faisal Karim Kundi would perform well, but the record would decide whether Kundi remained. "If Faisal Kundi does not perform, he will be replaced," he said. If the incumbents cannot deliver, he added, "someone else will come, but success is certain."
Results under the new arrangement should start becoming visible within 60 days, he said, and people should receive relief within 180 days. "The public only cares about relief," he said. "Everything will now be based on performance." He said the arrangement had come through the democratic system. He tied that test to KP government performance.
Under the setup, Governor Kundi exercises the provincial government's functions on behalf of the federation and is assisted by an 11-member advisory council. Parliament exercises the provincial assembly's legislative powers.
Security claims and the break with PTI
On the KP security situation, he said law and order was alarming and that the emergency "had become inevitable". He said soldiers were being martyred in terrorist incidents and that civilians and security forces were making sacrifices. "We have to eliminate terrorism," he said.
He said 13 years of PTI rule had produced "nothing but destruction", and that education and health had been left at zero. "You did nothing in 13 years," he said. He alleged that PTI had a "nexus with terrorists" and questioned who was responsible for a 195% increase in terrorism. That percentage is his claim; he gave no further detail to support it.
The proclamation cited a surge in terrorist attacks and extremist activity, including attacks on infrastructure, government installations and law enforcement. It said the former provincial government had not shown the "ownership, will and intent" required to tackle terrorism and lawlessness, and it referred to the governor's report of a "breakdown of the constitutional machinery".
Vawda dismissed talk of dividing the province. "Neither is the province going to be broken up, nor is anything else going to happen," he said. He also said no other province was going to be divided.
He said an option to "reboot" Pakistan was being considered, but he gave no detail. He claimed no party had "political capital" and that people would no longer be swayed by "false slogans". He said "political terrorism, state terrorism and terrorism against the country" would be addressed, as would "economic terrorism". He claimed arrests had taken place through "collusion", without explaining.
Referring to the former PTI administration, he said eight KP cabinet members had been in contact with him, and that he had told eight PTI friends the "show was over".
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Last Sunday: President Asif Ali Zardari imposed emergency and governor's rule in KP on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's advice under Articles 232 and 234, sidelining the PTI-led government.
- Last Sunday: Governor Faisal Karim Kundi began exercising the provincial government's functions for the federation with an 11-member advisory council, while Parliament took on the provincial assembly's legislative powers.
- 13 October: At the Faisal Vawda press conference in Islamabad, the senator said this setup could also be replaced if it failed to perform, with early results within 60 days and public relief within 180 days.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Faisal Vawda ne Islamabad mein kaha ke agar KP ki hukumat kaam na kare to usay hata diya ja sakta hai. Unhon ne emergency ki himayat ki aur security ki halat ko kharab bataya. Un ke mutabiq 60 din mein nataij aur 180 din mein relief milna chahiye. Unhon ne koi nai hukumat announce nahi ki.
