Former Pakistani President Arif Alvi on Monday, 12 October 2026, sharply condemned the federal government's decision to impose emergency and Governor's rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), calling the move the 'demolition of democracy'. The condemnation came a day after Islamabad placed 12 districts of the province under emergency, simultaneously suspending the provincial government run by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Alvi's X Post and Core Accusations

In a post on X, Alvi charged that KP had been seized by what he described as an 'unrepresentative, fraudulent set-up in Islamabad'. He insisted that only the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa held the sovereign right to remove their elected government, accusing the federal establishment of overriding the popular mandate.

Alvi's statement did not stop at constitutional arguments. He alleged that Imran Khan's continued imprisonment was the 'only sticking point' behind the centre's escalating crackdown. 'Personal animosity is consuming Pakistan. Poverty and elite capture are up,' he wrote, adding that those who 'collude spinelessly grow richer' as what he termed 'plotocracy and fascism' advance.

He further alleged that children had been seized and beaten to compel their parents into submission, that destruction of property had become 'the police's new routine', and that elected PTI representatives were being 'tortured and kidnapped by masked regime changers' — charges that the federal government has not publicly addressed.

Parallels Drawn With Balochistan and PoK

Alvi drew pointed comparisons between the situation in KP and two other restive regions. He referred to the suppression of peaceful protests over enforced disappearances in Balochistan, and to recent life sentences handed to Baloch women activists, as evidence that peaceful dissent was being systematically crushed. He also cited the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) protests, where he claimed large-scale demonstrations were 'viciously strangled', leaving dozens dead.

Alvi directly named the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as the forces behind what he called the destruction of Pakistan's constitutional fabric, warning that KP risked a similar fate to these regions.

Legal Community Joins Criticism

The backlash extended to the legal fraternity. Both the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) and the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) condemned the emergency as 'undemocratic', announcing that lawyers would observe a 'black day' in solidarity with the people of KP. The SHCBA urged authorities to respect the fundamental rights of citizens and take immediate steps to restore democratic governance, according to reports citing Pakistani daily Dawn.

What the Emergency Means for KP

The emergency covers 12 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and effectively places the province under Governor's rule, displacing the PTI-led provincial administration. KP has been a stronghold for PTI and represents one of the party's last major institutional footholds following Imran Khan's imprisonment and the broader crackdown on the movement. Critics argue the emergency strips the province's electorate of the government they voted for, raising serious questions about the constitutional legitimacy of the centre's action.

Outlook

With vocal opposition from a former head of state, a rising tide of legal dissent, and PTI's grassroots base intact in KP, Pakistan's federal government faces mounting pressure to justify and potentially reverse the emergency. How the superior judiciary — whose independence Alvi also questioned — responds to legal challenges could determine whether Governor's rule holds or is struck down.