ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Thursday defended the emergency proclamations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying the Constitution clearly laid down the procedure and the government had followed it.
Speaking at a joint sitting of Parliament, he said Article 232 of the Constitution allowed the president to declare an emergency under specific circumstances.
Referring to the second proviso to Article 232(1), he said a proclamation issued by the president on his own had to be placed before both Houses of Parliament for approval within 10 days. He said the required constitutional procedure had been followed.
Dar also explained Article 234, saying a proclamation issued under this provision had to be placed before a joint sitting of Parliament and would remain in force for two months.
He said the joint sitting could extend the proclamation for further periods of up to two months at a time, but it could not remain in force for more than six months.
Referring to Articles 148 and 149, he said the Constitution required the federation to protect provinces against external aggression and internal disturbances. It also allowed the federal government to issue directions to prevent a serious threat to peace, public order or the country’s economic life.
He urged lawmakers not to interpret constitutional provisions incorrectly for political purposes.
Dar said the government had tried to engage political parties and sought the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s cooperation in tackling terrorism.
He said proposals during negotiations included a meeting between the prime minister and opposition leaders, the formation of an all-party political committee, and steps to ensure prisoners’ legal rights and access to medical treatment.
He said the federal cabinet had discussed the situation at length and that no one wanted to impose emergency measures. However, the government considered them necessary after efforts to reach an agreement failed.
The deputy prime minister also recalled efforts by Maulana Fazlur Rehman to revive the negotiations.
Dar said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had received an additional one per cent share from the federal divisible pool for counterterrorism, which he estimated at around Rs800 billion since 2010-11.
He questioned whether the provincial government had developed sufficient counterterrorism and forensic capabilities with these resources.
Dar urged political parties to work together to combat terrorism, saying the security challenge needed to be addressed before political reconciliation could move forward.