The federal government has placed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under KP governor raj and an emergency together. It has announced an 11-member advisory council to carry provincial affairs forward and for the deployment of the army in the province, BBC Urdu reported. The chief minister, provincial ministers, advisers, assistants, the advocate general and several other constitutional office-holders were rendered inactive at once.
What the orders put in place
The steps use Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution. Article 232 is the emergency provision. Article 234 is the governor’s-rule provision, under which the governor handles the province. A further order under Article 245 directs the Pakistan Armed Forces to assist that administration, which BBC Urdu says is now running provincial affairs under the governor.
Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said at a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday afternoon that the situation was serious enough that the centre had to use both articles at the same time. The federal government claims it tried, until late the previous night, to contact Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and avoid the step. BBC Urdu’s headline frames the measures as a challenge for both PTI and the federal government, and asks who will now run the province and how.
Who decides under the governor
The advisory council is the 11-member body named for provincial work and for the military deployment. With the cabinet and other office-holders inactive, authority sits with the governor. The open question around KP governor raj is the one BBC Urdu asks in its headline: who will run the government, and by what method.
KP governor raj therefore moves provincial business to the governor’s administration. Elected ministers are out of their posts. The armed forces have been ordered to assist the provincial government now headed by the governor, as BBC Urdu reported. Earlier Zaviya reports set out the emergency order and the centre’s defence of the measures.
Weekend strikes in Riyadh
In a separate development, the Riyadh airport attack struck King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, 10 October, and again on Sunday, 11 October, BBC Urdu reported. Saturday’s strike killed 13 people and injured 308. Two citizens of Bangladesh and one citizen of India were killed on Saturday evening. The Houthis, a Yemeni armed group, later claimed that attack.
On Sunday, Saudi officials said a missile-like weapon or projectile fell near the terminal, and a fire started in a passenger hall. At least one Pakistani citizen was killed and 11 people were injured. BBC Urdu said deaths confirmed across the two days include citizens of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
The Houthis announced that over the previous 24 hours they had hit the airport with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. The BBC Urdu headline, about Umrah pilgrims caught in the strikes, says Nasrullah was supposed to travel to Makkah on another flight. Zaviya has reported the Pakistani death in this account of the airport strikes.
