Those Sitting in KP Forced Us to Impose Emergency and Governor’s Rule; Eradicating Terrorism is the Federation’s Responsibility, States Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister of Interior Mohsin Naqvi has said that the federal government had no other choice but to declare Emergency and Governor’s Rule in KPK because the provincial government was refusing to cooperate on key security issues.
Naqvi gave a detailed account of the negotiations in a joint address to the House of the Federation and the House of the Provinces during which multiple attempts were made by the federal government to bring the KP government on board to jointly combat terrorism but before the constitutional step was taken.
The high points of the Parliamentary Address of the Minister of Interior Mohsin Naqvi.
Tired Negotiations: Naqvi said the government had tried its best to keep the negotiations alive till the end of the day, and the government was not initially interested in the imposition of Governor’s Rule. He said that he had recalled a meeting of the provincial apex committee in February, led by then-CM Sohail Afridi, which he said was extremely hard to hold. He noted that Afridi later stopped attending the funeral prayers of those martyred during security operations.
Four-Point Agenda and Breakdown: The interior minister presented the key negotiation points as being: 1) a meeting between Prime Minister and Opposition Leader, 2) a political committee up and running, 3) legal reassurances for legitimate claims, and 4) an uncompromising policy in eradicating terror in parallel with the National Action Plan. Naqvi pointed out that the provincial government would not stand up with the state institutions against the militant threats, which had led to stalling in the talks.
On other opposition issues, Naqvi said that the government was always “proactive” in addressing the well-being of jailed PTI founder. He said that when medical issues came up, whether it was a check-up of someone’s eyes, doctors and medical centers were always arranged, and he wondered why the provincial decision makers didn’t always have the courage to support the decisions they made in the closed-door discussions.
Eradicating terrorism lies with the federal government, which would not be hindered by the political standstill, the interior minister said, reiterating the government’s strong stance.The interior minister reiterated the government’s strong stance, that eradicating terrorism is the responsibility of the federal government, which would not be hindered by the political standstill. He asked opposition legislators to be present with their province chiefs and prevent political platforms from becoming shields to protect those who pose a risk to national security.