Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Friday that the Centre had finished deliberating on the imposition of an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, warning that a lack of provincial government cooperation on counter-terrorism would lead it to enforce a state of emergency and then eradicate terrorism.

The minister made these remarks on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’, during which he also refused to confirm reports that a high-level meeting was expected on Saturday to decide on the imposition of an emergency in KP.

The Centre has warned the PTI-led KP government in recent days of sending it packing through an emergency or governor’s rule as the party goes ahead with a protest march to demand the release of its jailed founder, Imran Khan. Federal ministers have cited the security situation in KP in this connection with the possibility of a state of emergency in the province.

Speaking on the programme, Chaudhry refused to verify that any meeting was taking place for the sake of making a final decision in any regard, noting that meetings took place at the Prime Minister’s House daily.

“The matter of any decisive meeting is not final, nor has it been notified,” he said.

Regarding the reports that the government was considering implementing an emergency in 12 districts, he added, “The reality is that the government has completed its deliberation regarding the implementation of an emergency. Now it is in the hands of the KP government what role it plays in imposing or not imposing an emergency in the province.”

The Centre and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) would end terrorism in KP no matter what, he said, adding that it would be better for the provincial government if they were to cooperate and play a part in this.

“But if they want to remain separate, then our other option is that after imposing an emergency, terrorism be cleaned up completely, terrorists be completely eradicated, and for that Article 232 … is for the whole province, not just 12 districts,” he added.

On the matter of these districts, Chaudhry said that “extraordinary measures are the need of the hour”.

However, when questioned, he categorically stated that the consideration of a state of emergency had “definitively no relation” to the PTI’s ongoing long march, stating that the simultaneous occurrence of the long march and the mulling of an emergency declaration “could be a coincidence”.

Rather, he said, the Centre’s deliberations on imposing an emergency had been ongoing for a long time, as an increasing number of police and LEA personnel were being martyred in the province. He added that many efforts had been made to bring the KP government on board to play their role, but they were instead “standing like a wall” in front of the Centre’s peace efforts.

“There is a cutoff point, at which one has to decide that the final and decisive elimination of terrorists must be done,” the minister said.

He said that the federal government’s preparations for stopping the march were already complete, saying, “Bigger long marches than the one currently ongoing in KP have been brought to Islamabad, and they were stopped … We know how to deal with a long march. Neither is the long march a threat to us, nor is there any concern about it.”

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