ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Monday announced he would challenge emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Peshawar High Court today (Tuesday), as the opposition denounced the measures as an assault on provincial autonomy and threatened nationwide protests.
Speaking at a press conference alongside the opposition leader in National Assembly Mehmood Khan Achakzai and the opposition leader in Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Gohar said the PTI would resist the October 11 measures through the courts, Parliament and street demonstrations, insisting that the party would neither accept the decisions nor abandon its long march.
“We will raise our voices on every forum. Our long march is ongoing, and our protests are continuing. We will not accept this,” he said, describing October 11 as a “black day” in Pakistan’s democratic history.
He demanded the withdrawal of the measures, alleging that the provincial government machinery had been abruptly changed despite the party remaining in contact with the federal government until the last moment.
He also cited the detention of the provincial chief minister and the imprisonment of party supporters as evidence of what he portrayed as a widening crackdown on the PTI.
He said the federal government’s approach had aggravated political tensions instead of addressing the province’s challenges.
His announcement signalled a fresh escalation in the confrontation between the PTI and the federal government, with the opposition threatening to take the dispute beyond the courts and the provincial assembly to the streets nationwide.
“The federation will be strong only when the provinces are strong,” he said, warning against dividing the population along political lines in the fight against terrorism.
While describing terrorism as a serious menace, he maintained that the country’s future depended on democracy and respect for provincial authority.
Achakzai announced that opposition parties would organise peaceful protests across Pakistan against governor’s rule and emergency measures in KP.
He said the parties would mobilise according to their capacity and launch a democratic movement in districts where the extraordinary measures had not been imposed.
He insisted that the opposition remained open to negotiations but would not surrender its constitutional and political demands.
He questioned the justification for imposing the measures in KP, arguing that the security situation in Balochistan was worse and accusing the government of applying different standards to the two provinces.
“Balochistan’s chief minister is your blue-eyed boy, but you take no action against what is being looted there,” he said, alleging that half of Balochistan had become a no-go area for security forces.
He also renewed allegations of electoral manipulation in the February 8 general elections, claiming that money and coercion had undermined voters’ choices and that the PTI had been denied its mandate despite winning public support.
“Forty million people’s right to vote has been mocked,” he said, arguing that Parliament could not perform its constitutional role while its authority was undermined.
The opposition leader maintained that Parliament was responsible for formulating policy and that all state institutions must operate within constitutional boundaries. Invoking Article 6, which deals with high treason, he warned against violations of the Constitution.
In an inflammatory attack on the ruling coalition, Achakzai called the government “the biggest terrorist”, accusing it of treating political workers as security threats and denying the PTI the freedom to protest what it considers the theft of its electoral mandate.
He also demanded permission to meet PTI founder Imran Khan, offering a written assurance that he would not disclose details of their conversation.
He alleged that the government wanted the former prime minister to leave the country, adding that Imran had no intention of doing so.
Rejecting the suggestion that he was unwilling to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he said he remained ready for talks but would not visit the Prime Minister’s House or the Speaker’s Office.
Senator Raja Nasir Abbas also rejected the measures, accusing the government of making the unanimously agreed Constitution controversial and equating political workers with terrorists.
“We have to contend with those who violate the Constitution,” he said, calling for national unity against terrorism and urging political forces to stand alongside the people of KP.
He questioned why emergency measures had been imposed in KP when, in his assessment, the law and order situation in Balochistan was more serious.
He warned that the crisis could worsen unless the public and political leadership acted collectively.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026