[1]ISLAMABAD: The situation in Islamabad has come back to square one as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party chief Imran Khan has reiterated his call to protesters to enter the Red Zone and continue the civil disobedience movement after Pakistan Parliament passed a resolution rejecting the demand for PM Nawaz Sharif’s resignation.
Slamming PTI’s demands as unconstitutional, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rashid said no political party supports the demand of resignation through long marches and pressure tactics.
Minister of I&B Pervaiz Rashid said no political party supports the demand of resignation through long marches and pressure tactics.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksha has postponed his visit to Pakistan due to the chaotic situation in Islamabad.Even as the government has placed containers in order to ensure that marchers do not eneter the Red Zone, Imran blasted PM Nawaz Sharif, and requested the Supreme Court to order the removal of the containers.
Imran on Thursday addressed a crowd of supporters in Islamabad and urged them to remove the containers from the Red Zone, saying he will stay in the Red Zone as long as he was alive.
Speaking at the Azadi square, Imran roared, “I will not leave Islamabad – whether alive or dead – with nothing less than Nawaz Sharif’s resignation”.
“Today we will decide if Nawaz Shairf can hide behind police and US or not,” he added. I will not leave Islamabad – whether alive or dead – with nothing less than Nawaz Sharif’s resignation, says Imran Khan at #AzadiSquare.“We will not spare you Nawaz, we will retrieve all the wealth you have looted,” roared Imran to thousands of protesters in Islamabad, calling for the expansion of the civil disobedience movement to other provinces of Pakistan.
“Pakistanis, today is your test…listen to your conscience and not to the coward man who is sitting in the prime minister house,” Imran was quoted as saying by the Dawn.
An angry Imran also threatened the interior secretary and newly appointed IG Islamabad, warning that they wouln’t be spared if any of the supporters of the PTI was harmed, reported the Dawn.”In passion, I may punch you,” the report quoted Imran as saying.Questioning the US over its statement in favour of Nawaz Sharif, Imran called Nawaz a stooge of the US and asked if the US would accept an election where 60-70,000 votes are non-verifiable in every constituency
Imran told the US government not to meddle in the politics of Pakistan and urged it to withdraw the statement made by US envoy Richard Olsen.
Imran’s sharp worded call to his protesters came after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) called off talks with the government, saying that no talks were possible till the government continued crackdown on protesters.The situation in Pakistan had started looking to ease after Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Tahirul Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) agreed to negotiate with the government.
However, after the talks were held on Wednesday night, between a delegation of PTI leaders and a government team, no agreement was reached as the government refused to accept the 6-point demand made by the PTI delegation, which included PM’s resignation.
Reacting to Imran’s rally, Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif has flooded her Twitter timeline with tweets mocking Imran Khan’s words and praises for her father,In one of the tweets, Maryam says whoever comes out in support of democracy is an enemy of Imran Khan, calling the current situation an Imran Khan Vs democracy protest.
She had earlier mocked Imran, saying the chief could spend all his life in a container, but PM will not resign. Whoever comes out in support of democracy is now an enemy of Imran Khan. So it is now IK vs Democracy ! U can spend your whole life in the container but Nawaz Sharif will NOT resign. — Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) August 20, 2014
In what are the biggest anti-government challenges yet to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who took office last year in the first democratic transfer of power, Imran Khan of the PTI and PAT leadert Tahirul Qadri, have been leading huge protest rallies against the government for a week now, demanding his resignation on the claims that last year’s elections were rigged.The anti-government protests threaten Pakistan’s political stability which has in past seen several coups.
[2]
