ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari was briefed on Saturday about security in the opposition-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, hours after discussing the country’s political and security affairs with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif amid speculation over possible emergency measures.

The separate meetings came as the province’s chief minister, Sohail Afridi, warned that any attempt to impose governor’s rule or an emergency in KP would trigger protests, heightening tensions between the federal government and jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

The government and PTI held negotiations earlier this month in an attempt to resolve longstanding political differences, but the talks collapsed over political demands and disagreements on counterterrorism policy.

The high-level consultations in Islamabad also followed the killing of a senior election commission official, Shamshad Khan, who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in KP’s Tank district on Saturday, amid federal government allegations that the PTI-led provincial administration has failed to adequately confront militancy.

PTI has opposed large-scale military operations that it says risk civilian casualties and displacement, arguing that counterterrorism measures should be developed in consultation with provincial political representatives and local communities.

“The president was briefed on the country’s overall security situation, particularly the deteriorating law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” the presidency said in a statement following Zardari’s meeting with KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

The development comes amid mounting speculation that the government could invoke constitutional provisions allowing federal intervention in KP, Pakistan’s only province governed by Khan’s PTI party.

Under Article 234 of Pakistan’s Constitution, the president may assume certain functions of a provincial government, or direct the provincial governor to exercise them, if the province can no longer be governed in accordance with the Constitution.

The presidency did not mention a decision on emergency measures in its statement following Zardari’s meeting with Kundi and Naqvi.

Earlier, Zardari and Sharif had also met to discuss the country’s political and security situation.

“They exchanged views on the country’s overall political and security situation,” the presidency said in a separate statement.

“It was agreed at the meeting to convene separate sessions of the National Assembly and Senate on Tuesday, October 13,” it added.

The federal cabinet is scheduled to meet at the Prime Minister’s House on Sunday morning, though no agenda has yet been announced.

While the presidency did not say whether the parliamentary sessions scheduled for next week would consider emergency measures in KP, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told Geo News on Saturday that consultations over the situation in KP were continuing, though imposing an emergency was not the government’s preferred course of action.

However, Chaudhry said developments appeared to be moving toward a last resort, suggesting constitutional options might have to be exercised if no alternative remained.

In a statement issued later in the day, the KP chief minister warned against any attempt to impose governor’s rule or an emergency in the province.

“Any attempt to impose Governor’s Rule or an emergency and undermine the public mandate will bring people to Peshawar,” he said in a statement issued by his office.

Afridi is currently leading a protest march through the province, demanding the release of PTI’s imprisoned founding leader.

Khan, who served as prime minister from 2018 until his removal in a parliamentary vote of no confidence in April 2022, has been imprisoned since August 2023. He is serving a sentence in a corruption case that he says is politically motivated, an allegation the government rejects.

His detention has fueled repeated confrontations between his party and the federal authorities, including a major protest in Islamabad in November 2024 that ended in clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Afridi has asked PTI supporters from across Pakistan to start gathering in Swabi on Sunday, October 11, where he said he would announce the movement’s next course of action on October 13. Earlier, he said the protest march would advance to Islamabad on October 14.

The president and the prime minister have agreed to convene separate parliamentary sessions a day before the planned advance. Article 234 of Pakistan’s Constitution allows the National Assembly and Senate, through separate resolutions, to require the president to issue a proclamation assuming certain provincial government functions, though any such proclamation must subsequently be submitted to a joint sitting of parliament for approval.

Amid the escalating tensions, the KP chief minister urged PTI supporters on Saturday to remain peaceful and avoid provocation.