The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly held an emergency session over the reported abduction of a provincial minister (Express Tribune).
What is alleged
Provincial minister Fazal Shakoor was seized at Peshawar Toll Plaza in daylight. A day earlier, minister Shakeel Khan was attacked — and an FIR was registered against him.
What was said in the house
Speaker Babar Saleem Swati: “These incidents create the impression that martial law is in force in the province.” He demanded a mandatory loyalty oath for federal officers posted to the province.
Law Minister Aftab Alam: “What message is being sent to the provincial executive, that we have no importance?” He added: “On 27 September we will come out for real freedom in any case,” saying the march would be peaceful.
Government members said the incidents were designed to derail the 27 September march, and that federal forces were conveying that “the PTI government and party have no status”.
The detail that should not be skipped
A minister was attacked and the FIR was registered against him. That is not a detail about who wins an argument; it is a statement about which account the police adopted.
Why the speaker’s phrase is the significant one
“Martial law is in force” is a claim about the constitutional order made by the presiding officer of a provincial legislature about his own province.
It comes four days after the federal interior minister said Governor’s Rule — the suspension of that same elected government — is among the options being weighed for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
So the speaker is alleging federal control in practice, while the federal government discusses assuming it in law. Both statements describe the same contest from opposite ends, and neither has produced a document.
The demand for a loyalty oath
Requiring federal officers deputed to a province to swear loyalty to it has no obvious constitutional basis. Civil servants swear allegiance to the Constitution, not to an administration, and a province cannot impose a separate oath on officers of the federation.
As a legislative proposal it is unlikely to survive. As a measure of how far relations have broken down, it is precise.
What is not established
No police or federal confirmation of Fazal Shakoor’s detention has been reported, nor his whereabouts or any order authorising it. The circumstances of the attack on Shakeel Khan and the contents of the FIR against him have not been published, and the federal government had not responded at the time of writing.
[Image: The Express Tribune]
