K-P experiences fourth spell of governor's rule

The province has experienced three previous periods of Governor's rule, each arising from a different political and constitutional crisis. The first instance occurred in 1975 under the federal government of then-prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The measure followed the assassination of Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao in a bomb blast while he was addressing a gathering at the Department of History at the University of Peshawar. The federal government subsequently banned the National Awami Party (NAP), made arrests and placed the province under Governor's rule.

The second episode came in 1994, when the federal government led by Benazir Bhutto moved against the provincial administration of Muslim League chief minister Pir Sabir Shah. Amid a political confrontation, assembly members reportedly disappeared and a no-confidence motion was brought against Shah.

Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao subsequently formed the provincial government. The third period followed the military takeover by then-army chief General Pervez Musharraf in October 1999, which removed the government of prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Muslim League Governor Mian Gul Aurangzeb was replaced by Lieutenant General (retired) Muhammad Shafiq.

He was later succeeded by Lieutenant General (retired) Syed Iftikhar Hussain, who administered the province with his own cabinet until the formation of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government in late 2002.

The latest arrangement differs from the previous episodes because the imposition of Governor's rule has coincided with an emergency covering 12 districts, reflecting the security-related scope of the current measures. The affected areas include the eight merged tribal districts: Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram, Orakzai, Bajaur, North Waziristan, South Waziristan Upper and South Waziristan Lower.

The four other districts are Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bannu and Lakki Marwat. The emergency covers the Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions in their entirety and parts of the Peshawar, Kohat and Malakand divisions.

The Hazara and Mardan divisions have been exempted from the emergency measures. Meanwhile, disruption of internet services has caused widespread confusion across the province, complicating communication and access to information amid the political and administrative changes.