THE proclamation of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Governor’s rule on October 11, 2026 has engaged the various segments of the society in a debate on the question of its legitimacy. Broadly speaking these segments can be divided into two camps: One is Anti-Emergency Camp and other is Pro-Emergency Camp. The first camp hailing mainly from opposition parties like JUI (F), ANP and PTI in itself criticized the proclamation of emergency as an unconstitutional move by ousting a provincial government led by a political party with an absolute majority. PTI-led government has lost its legitimacy on different grounds. However, the concept of legitimacy needs to be understood.

Legitimacy builds on obedience of people. No doubt, the PTI gained legitimacy through a constitutional political and electoral process and majority of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chose it in lieu of other political parties. PTI-led government dashed the legitimate expectations of its electors to the ground and lost legitimacy among them. First, PTI lost its legitimacy due to split into two broad camps (Ali Amin’s Camp and Sohail Afridi’s Camp) in addition to other minor factions that is reflected on the eve of passage of Annual Budget in KP Provincial Assembly and also in Senate elections. Both Ali Amin’s regime and Sohail Afridi’s regime exploited the sentiments of the people for protests and attacks on........

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