Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been placed under governor's rule, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said on Sunday, 11 October. Speaking in Islamabad with Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, he said the federal government had turned to the Constitution after a sharp rise in terrorism and because of concern that the provincial administration could not maintain law and order. The account comes from the Associated Press of Pakistan.
He told reporters that the federal cabinet had already met for more than two hours, with relevant departments presenting their reports, before the ministers spoke.
How the decision was reached
The law minister said the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had sent the federal government a letter containing alarming findings. He described that letter as the governor fulfilling his constitutional responsibilities under Article 234, the clause that provides for a governor's report when a provincial government cannot be carried on in line with the Constitution. APP reported his account of the letter and did not publish the letter itself.
He said the centre had to step in because the provincial government was allegedly failing to maintain its writ and was putting political considerations before the lives, property and welfare of the people. Those claims are Tarar's, as carried by the news agency. No response from the provincial government appears in the report.
The security case
According to Tarar, Ministry of Interior reports showed terrorism and extremism incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had increased by 196 percent over the past two to two-and-a-half years. He said casualties and injuries had also risen sharply, along with damage to installations and vehicles. The published remarks do not break those losses into separate numbers.
He referred as well to international assessments. A prominent terrorism index based in Sydney, he said, had ranked Pakistan as the country most affected by terrorism. APP attributes the ranking to the minister and does not name the index, so the claim is unconfirmed in the story beyond his citation.
The clauses he named
Tarar said the federal government and the President had acted within the framework of the Constitution of 1973. He cited Article 149(4), which concerns national peace, security and tranquillity and allows the federation to direct a province on those matters. The agency's copy ends as he begins to name a further article, so the rest of his legal list is not available here.
The same report does not say how long governor's rule will last. What it fixes on the record is the ministers' case: a 196 percent rise in terrorism and extremism incidents, a governor's letter under Article 234, and a cabinet meeting of more than two hours.
