The federal cabinet has approved the transfer of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister's powers to the province's governor for the duration of the emergency, in a further step that concentrates day-to-day administration in Peshawar under federal oversight.

The Cabinet Division issued the move through a gazette notification on 4 November. Federal Government Order No. 3/2026 authorises Governor Faisal Karim Kundi to exercise the chief minister's powers under the Constitution, provincial laws and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government Rules of Business, 1985. The order took effect immediately.

What the governor can now do

Under the order, Governor Kundi now exercises the chief minister's powers for routine provincial affairs while the emergency remains in force. An advisory council has been set up to assist him in overseeing provincial matters, and he must send the federal government a monthly review report on how the powers are used.

The step follows the emergency and governor's rule imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 11 October 2026 under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution. President Asif Ali Zardari approved the measures on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the federal government linked the step to worsening security and rising militant violence in the province.

Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and his cabinet ceased to hold office when the emergency was imposed. Both houses of Parliament approved the emergency on 14 October, and a joint sitting endorsed the emergency and governor's rule the following day.

Development package and fuel subsidy

The cabinet meeting also took other decisions. It ratified the Pakistan-Kuwait defence cooperation agreement, approved new currency note designs on the finance ministry's recommendation, and approved a Rs10 coin to replace the Rs10 note.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a Rs160 billion development package for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for peace and development. He also said more than 15 million people had directly benefited from the fuel subsidy scheme, for which Rs28 billion had been released, and that the subsidy would continue until December.

Legal challenges continue

The emergency remains contested. The opposition alliance Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP) has sought judicial review of the governor's rule and the emergency in the province. Separately, the Peshawar High Court has removed petitions challenging the emergency from its cause list after the Federal Constitutional Court curtailed the court's jurisdiction over cases filed on or after 12 October.

The federal government has also unveiled a new security plan for the province, including faceless anti-terrorism courts and Rs70 billion a year for the police and the Counter Terrorism Department, with Rs59.8 billion for police and Rs10.3 billion for the Counter Terrorism Department.