Parliament on Thursday approved a further extension of the State of Public Emergency declared under the Public Security Ordinance, with 145 members voting in favour and only six voting against. The 139-vote majority was the most decisive margin yet for the renewal.
This is the third consecutive monthly extension of the emergency framework. Parliament first approved the regulations on April 9 by a 137-to-27 vote, citing Middle East shipping disruptions. The Secretary to the President then extended them by gazette on April 28, citing Cyclone Ditwah recovery and the supply of essential services.
The emergency framework was originally proclaimed on November 29, 2025, in the wake of Cyclone Ditwah, which killed 646 people and caused $4.1 billion in damage. The Public Security Ordinance grants the executive broad powers to direct the security forces and to regulate movement, supply and pricing while the proclamation is in force. A separate gazette designating 15 categories of essential services — including electricity, fuel, water, health, public transport and the Central Bank — has been extended in parallel.
Thursday’s lopsided vote reflects the NPP government’s comfortable parliamentary majority and a softer opposition stance now that the most acute fuel pressures have eased. Opposition parties had been more critical of the first extension in April, when 27 MPs voted against; only six dissented today.
The renewal comes despite the Pakistan-brokered US–Iran ceasefire easing oil-supply pressures, with the government continuing to cite Cyclone Ditwah reconstruction and broader regional security as the rationale for keeping emergency powers in place. The framework will now run for another month before the next renewal vote.
