Where Is the Governor in Governor’s Rule?

Following the imposition of Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three separate councils have been established to oversee provincial affairs and manage administrative matters. This raises a critical question: how much authority and what role will Faisal Karim Kundi retain?

The first is an 11-member Advisory Council, established to assist Governor Faisal Karim Kundi. Its members were introduced on October 11, 2026.

The second is an Executive Council, which will oversee affairs in 12 districts, including the eight merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Lakki Marwat, and Bannu. This council will be directly regulated by the Interior Minister.

The third is an 11-member Monitoring Committee, formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to oversee administrative affairs, law and order, and day-to-day matters in the province under Governor’s Rule. Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar will serve as its convener. Other members include Rana Sanaullah, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Ahsan Iqbal, Attaullah Tarar, Amir Muqam, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, one representative from the Pakistan Peoples Party, one from the Balochistan Awami Party, and one from the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party. Apart from Amir Muqam, no other member from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been included in the Monitoring Committee.

The fundamental question now is this: if matters concerning 12 districts are to be regulated directly by the Interior Minister, with no practical role for the Governor or his Advisory Council, while the Governor and his 11-member council are answerable to the Prime Minister’s 11-member Monitoring Committee, what real role remains for Faisal Karim Kundi, the face of Governor’s Rule?

If most administrative powers and oversight mechanisms in the province are to remain in the hands of the federal government, while the Governor and his council are also expected to operate under a committee appointed by the Prime Minister, then is this truly Governor’s Rule, or is it, in practice, direct rule by the federal government?