Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that if KP Governor's Rule had not been imposed in time, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could have suffered further damage. Speaking in Islamabad to the PML-N Khyber Pakhtunkhwa parliamentary party and party office-bearers, he framed the step as unavoidable after talks failed.
He told the gathering he was addressing them both as prime minister and as a worker of Nawaz Sharif. He described Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a beautiful province whose people are brave and dignified, and said PML-N had helped strengthen democratic practice there. After the 2013 elections, he said, Nawaz Sharif allowed the majority party in the province to form a government.
Why Governor's Rule was imposed
Shehbaz said Governor's Rule and an emergency were enforced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa because circumstances left little choice. The government first tried to settle matters through negotiation: a committee of the Pakistan Peoples Party and PML-N held talks for 48 hours. After those talks, he said, officials waited for approval of the draft that had been settled, but that approval never came.
A decision was then necessary, he argued, to protect the public, the country, the economy and society. Without a timely decision, he repeated, the province could have faced still greater harm. He said PML-N would keep working for the province's development, prosperity and public service.
Provincial resources and security capacity
The prime minister said a party that held power in the province for 13 years made loud claims, then asked how many universities and hospitals were built in that period. He said political slogans and division drew more attention than public service, and that problems from Peshawar to Kohistan, Hazara and the southern districts were neglected.
Under the 2010 National Finance Commission (NFC) Award—the formula for sharing federal money with provinces—an extra 1% of resources was agreed for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said. By his account the province has so far received Rs800 billion under the NFC Award. He asked how many Safe City projects that money produced and how far the Anti-Terrorism Department was strengthened, and said 5,000 vacant police posts were not filled. Provincial resources, he argued, should have gone to modern weapons and training for the police.
Terrorism, loadshedding and relief claims
Shehbaz said the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, along with the police, the army and political leaders, made exceptional sacrifices against terrorism, and that Pakistan paid a heavy human and economic cost. He said that in Nawaz Sharif's tenure the nation and state institutions together confronted terrorism, and that the Army Public School attack in Peshawar remains a lasting national wound.
He alleged that in 2019 and 2020 terrorists were brought back from Afghanistan and settled, after which terrorism rose again and damaged the country. An appeal to confront that threat jointly, as in the past, was not heeded, he said. He also linked past protest politics to diplomacy: the 2014 sit-in, he said, delayed a Chinese presidential visit, while important agreements were signed during President Xi Jinping's 2015 visit to Pakistan. Ending 20-hour daily loadshedding, he added, came from Nawaz Sharif's sustained work.
On the economy, he said military and political leaders worked day and night for stability, while global conditions and conflict in the Gulf drove an extraordinary rise in energy prices. Despite that, he said the government launched a fuel subsidy scheme that has already reached 1.3 crore people, with Rs75 billion set aside for public relief and help for the poor treated as a priority.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 2010: Extra 1% NFC resources for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa agreed, according to the prime minister.
- 2013: After the elections, Nawaz Sharif allowed the province's majority party to form a government, Shehbaz said.
- 2014–2015: He said the 2014 sit-in delayed a Chinese presidential visit; important accords were signed during Xi Jinping's 2015 trip to Pakistan.
- 2019–2020: Shehbaz alleged terrorists were brought from Afghanistan and settled, after which terrorism revived and hurt the country.
- Recent talks: A PPP–PML-N committee negotiated for 48 hours; approval of the settled draft did not come, he said, before Governor's Rule and an emergency were imposed.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Wazir-e-Azam Shehbaz Sharif ne kaha ke Khyber Pakhtunkhwa mein time par Governor's Rule lagana zaroori tha, warna soobe ko mazeed nuqsan ho sakta tha. Unhone bataya ke PPP aur PML-N ne 48 ghante baat cheet ki, lekin tasdeeq nahi mili. Unka kehna hai ke soobe ko NFC ke tehat 800 arab rupay mil chuke hain, phir bhi police ki 5,000 khali asamiyan nahi bhari gain. Unhone yeh bhi kaha ke 2019–2020 mein Afghanistan se dehshatgard wapas la kar basaye gaye, jisse mulk ko nuqsan hua.
