Lawyers’ Action Committee Condemns Governor’s Rule and Arrests in KP, Calls Move ‘Authoritarian’

QUETTA: Chairman of the All Pakistan Lawyers’ Action Committee Ali Ahmed Kurd and Rahib Khan Buleedi have strongly condemned the reported imposition of an emergency and Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), as well as the arrests of Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial president Junaid Akbar and other members of parliament, describing the measures as a manifestation of authoritarianism.

In a joint condemnation statement, the lawyers’ leaders said the democratic credentials of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had been exposed before the public. They described the reported measures as an insult to the people’s mandate.

They argued that the arrest of an elected chief minister and members of parliament, alongside the imposition of what they termed unconstitutional Governor’s Rule in the province, reflected an authoritarian approach that they compared to the military regimes of Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf.

The statement alleged that although the country formally had a prime minister, a president, the Supreme Court, courts and Parliament, real powers remained in the hands of a military dictator. The lawyers’ leaders held this alleged concentration of power responsible for the country’s ongoing political and economic crises.

They also pointed to the deteriorating law and order situation, rising inflation and increasing unemployment, saying these challenges had intensified public difficulties.

Ali Ahmed Kurd and Rahib Khan Buleedi reiterated that the reported imposition of Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was unconstitutional and rejected the move.

They further announced that the All Pakistan Lawyers’ Action Committee would determine its future course of action in response to what it described as unconstitutional measures.