Bilawal blames PTI for KP emergency, renews offer of dialogue

• Bilawal says PTI’s actions amounted to a “political suicide attack” on its own provincial government.
• The PPP chairman backs the emergency but urges negotiations to create conditions for ending it.
• Barrister Gohar calls the intervention an assault on democracy, while Tarar defends it on security grounds.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday renewed his offer of dialogue with PTI while blaming the party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for the circumstances that led to emergency and governor’s rule in the province.

Addressing the National Assembly, Bilawal described PTI’s actions as a “political suicide attack” on its own government. He said the intervention had been carried out under the Constitution and confirmed that the PPP supported the decision.

However, he stressed that the emergency should not continue indefinitely and urged both the government and opposition to return to negotiations. He said political engagement could help create conditions in which the extraordinary measures would no longer be needed.

Bilawal said he would personally ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to end the emergency if the opposition helped bring about such a situation. He also called on the government to continue reaching out to opposition parties.

The PPP chairman maintained that President Asif Ali Zardari had approved the measures in accordance with the Constitution. He said the government had pursued talks and made efforts to engage the opposition before proceeding with the intervention.

The National Assembly suspended question hour to debate the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry tabled a motion concerning the emergency proclamation, with Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar opening the discussion.

Defending the government’s decision, Tarar alleged that the provincial administration’s approach to counterterrorism had become a threat to national security. He said the cabinet recommended an emergency after reviewing the situation during a two-and-a-half-hour meeting.

Responding to criticism that the measures were intended to remove an elected government, Tarar linked the decision to security concerns. He also alleged that a political party’s ideology had contributed to the spread of terrorism.

The law minister criticised Sohail Afridi, accusing him of disregarding the sacrifices of armed forces personnel and civilians killed in violence.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan rejected the government’s position, describing the emergency and governor’s rule as an assault on democracy. He alleged that terrorism was being used as a pretext for the intervention and accused the government of disrupting democratic governance.

Gohar also claimed that other actors were operating behind militants in the affected areas and accused the government of using the security situation to justify taking control of the province.

President Zardari approved the emergency and governor’s rule on the prime minister’s advice, citing worsening security conditions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the President Secretariat’s Media Wing, the decision followed federal cabinet recommendations, formal advice from the prime minister and law-and-order reports from relevant security institutions.