Parliament’s joint sitting endorses emergency in KP

A joint sitting of parliament on Thursday approved a resolution endorsing the presidential proclamation imposing an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with 214 lawmakers voting in favour and 57 opposing it.

The session, chaired by National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, approved the resolution by a majority vote as part of the constitutional process for parliamentary endorsement of the emergency and governor’s rule in the province.

President Asif Ali Zardari had proclaimed an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 11 under Article 232 of the Constitution.

The National Assembly and Senate had already passed separate resolutions endorsing the emergency by majority votes a day earlier, completing the approval process in both houses before Thursday’s joint sitting.

The joint session began with a prayer for the children killed in the school roof collapse in Peshawar. Maulana Ataur Rehman led the prayer.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry presented the resolution based on the presidential proclamation.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told the house that detailed discussions on the imposition of the emergency under Article 232 had already taken place in both houses of parliament.

The move faced strong opposition from opposition lawmakers, who protested against the federal government’s decision during the separate sessions of the National Assembly and Senate.

During the National Assembly session, opposition members raised slogans against the emergency, while proceedings in the Senate were also marked by heated exchanges between government and opposition members.

Opposition senators staged a walkout after the confrontation, but the upper house subsequently approved the resolution by a majority vote.

The joint sitting’s approval followed the separate endorsements by both houses and completed the parliamentary process described by the government as necessary under Article 232 of the Constitution.