Islamabad, Pakistan: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday said there was no justification for the protests as he has accepted all constitutional demands of protesters after opposition leader Imran Khan asked him to quit for 30 days to allow a probe into alleged rigging in the 2013 polls.
“Instead of wasting their energies in protests, the demonstrators should play their role for the progress and development of the country,” Mr Sharif said in his first public comments after Mr Khan sought his resignation.
There is no justification for continuing the protest after the government acceded to all the constitutional demands of the participants of the sit-ins, he said during a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Member of National Assembly Hamza Shahbaz.
In his latest demand after the government outrightly rejected the proposal to end the crippling political deadlock, Mr Khan asked Mr Sharif to quit for 30 days to allow an independent probe into alleged rigging in last year’s polls.
“We accept nothing less than Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation,” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan told his supporters as they continued the siege of the parliament.
With the government rejecting the protesters’ demand that Mr Sharif step down as Prime Minister, the political deadlock entered the 11th day on Sunday with no breakthrough yet.
The third round of talks between government negotiators and Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday night failed to break the logjam.
The party has announced it will recommence its sit-in on Sunday evening with screens and mini-protests in other cities as well.
After the meeting, Mr Khan’s chief negotiator Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters that if proved innocent Nawaz Sharif can return to power.
Meanwhile, 11 disgruntled Members of National Assembly from Mr Khan’s PTI have decided to form a forward bloc after developing serious differences with the party leadership over the issue of resignations.
PTI member Gulzar Khan accused the party leadership of not consulting the lawmakers over the decision of resignations during the sit-in in Islamabad, Geo TV reported.
He said that they were neither consulted nor taken on board over such a big decision.
Thousands of supporters of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and firebrand cleric Tahir-ul Qadri continued to camp outside the Parliament building in Islamabad.
Pakistani media said government has suspended mobile phone services in the Red Zone, in and around the National Assembly citing security reasons. There are also reports of fresh efforts to block arterial roads leading to the protest site to prevent supporters of Mr Khan and Mr Qadri reaching there.
Striking a defiant note, Mr Khan said it was out of question to leave the capital without forcing Mr Sharif to quit.
“If it is proved after 30 days that everything was ok, you can return as the PM. But you are not willing to take us up on the offer. That is because you are afraid that you will be found out,” Mr Khan said.
Using the cricketing terminology, he promised to contest till the “last ball”.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister and the premier’s brother Shahbaz Sharif denied reports that the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) government was considering his resignation as a means to end the political crisis.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Mashhood categorically rejected the reports that the option of Shahbaz Sharif’s resignation was under consideration, Dawn news reported.
On Saturday, embattled Premier Nawaz Sharif received a boost when former President Asif Ali Zardari met him at his residence in Lahore to discuss the crisis and pledged to “protect democracy”.
Jamaat-i-Islami Chief Sirajul Haq said that the resignations submitted by the PTI lawmakers should not be accepted, otherwise the current political crisis will escalate.
Speaking to the media after a meeting with National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Mr Haq said that there was still room for talks.
Comments
Post a Comment