Governor Faisal Karim Kundi is moving to establish the new administrative order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, convening the first Apex Committee meeting of the new setup on Monday while the 11-member technocratic advisory council formed to assist him formally took charge, a day after President Zardari imposed an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution.
First Apex Committee session of the new setup
Kundi summoned the provincial Apex Committee to review the security situation, counterterrorism operations and governance issues on Monday, according to Dunya News. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is expected to attend alongside the Peshawar corps commander, senior police officials and intelligence heads, while provincial information adviser Samar Haroon Bilour told ARY News the corps commander, chief secretary, inspector general of police and other senior officials would join.
Sources told Dunya News that the agenda includes 12 sensitive districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with army deployment in these districts under discussion. The federal government had already authorised the deployment of army personnel and assets in the province in aid of civil power when the emergency was imposed on Sunday.
Eleven-member advisory council takes charge
A day earlier, Kundi chaired the inaugural meeting of the 11-member technocratic advisory council at the Governor House, where the newly appointed advisers formally assumed their portfolios, Dawn reported. The council assists the governor in exercising executive authority, replacing the ousted provincial administration.
Kifayat Ullah Khan, a former prisons inspector general and commissioner, takes home and tribal affairs, while Supreme Court advocate Amir Javed takes law and parliamentary affairs. Two former Federal Board of Revenue chairmen take the economic portfolios: Tariq Mehmood Pasha gets finance, revenue, excise and taxation, and Dr Muhammad Irshad takes industries and commerce. Dr Syed Amir Abdullah will serve as adviser for education, and retired Lt Gen Nigar Johar Khan, the country’s first female three-star army officer and a former army surgeon general, will oversee health.
The remaining advisers are Dr Sarfraz Ali Shah (mines and minerals), Asif Rafiq Afridi (communication and works, local government, housing and transport), former senator Osman Saifullah Khan (energy and power, planning and development), Maulana Muhammad Tayyab Qureshi (auqaf and religious affairs), and National Assembly member Samar Haroon Bilour (information and broadcasting). Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar described the council as comprising competent individuals to steer the provincial apparatus, and the appointments sit alongside the lineup headed by new KP chief secretary Dr Fakhr Alam Irfan.
Kundi’s message: an uncompromising fight against terrorism
Addressing the council, Kundi said extraordinary constitutional measures had become imperative to restore law and order. “I have one message: peace, protection and stability have to be brought back to KP,” he said, adding that ethnic Pakhtuns were the biggest victims of the violence that has plagued the region.
“The time has now come to give the people of the province, who have rendered these sacrifices, the right to peace,” he said, declaring the fight was against terrorism and the ideology and network which facilitates it. Those facilitating and financing terrorism, he warned, would also be eliminated and dealt with according to the law.
He pledged to strengthen the operational capacity of the regular police and the Counter-Terrorism Department, saying good governance would be judged by tangible service delivery, with the council focusing on healthcare, education and employment. “We have to fast-track things. There will be zero tolerance on corruption,” he said. “If we have peace, we will get tourists and investors.”
The leadership change follows Sunday’s crackdown in which the ousted chief minister Sohail Afridi was taken into preventive custody, a move the PTI has condemned as political victimisation while the government insists those not wanted in any case will be released.
Schools closed in three districts
District authorities in Swabi, Mardan and Nowshera ordered all public and private educational institutions, including schools, colleges and universities, closed on Monday in view of the emergency and governor’s rule, the Express Tribune reported. In Mardan and Nowshera, all examinations scheduled for Monday were also cancelled, and officials were directed to ensure strict compliance.
Bilour said institutions had been closed for one day owing to blocked roads, adding that all shipping containers placed on highways would be removed within a day or two. She said the situation was under control across the province including Peshawar, with no untoward incident reported, and that political activities would be permitted within the limits of the law and the Constitution.
What happens next
The advisers have been directed to undergo immediate briefings and accelerate stalled initiatives, while Bilour said detainees from Sunday’s crackdown who have no cases against them would be released soon. The Apex Committee’s decisions on the 12 sensitive districts will set the security tone for the new setup’s first week. For continuing developments, follow PakMirror’s latest Pakistan politics coverage.
