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Sharif’s foes serve 48-hr ultimatum Thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s Opposition leader Imran Khan on Sunday forced their way into the high-security Red Zone after the cricketer-turned-politician and cleric Tahir-ul Qadri set a 48-hour deadline for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign. Undeterred by inclement weather and low turnouts, supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) led by Khan and the Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) headed by Qadri continued their protests for the fourth day. Stick-wielding PTI protesters hit containers and removed barbed wire blocking their way to the Red Zone where Parliament, President and Prime Minister’s residences and foreign embassies are located. Policemen took up positions above and around the shipping containers placed to block protesters. Some security personnel were also seen on the run after PTI supporters charged towards them. Both Khan and Qadri have so far stood firm on the one demand that remains off the negotiating table with the PML-N led government — that Prime Minister Sharif step down to make way for a new government, a new system. Khan on Sunday asked people to stop paying taxes to the government in a "civil disobedience movement" to oust Sharif. "We will not pay electricity and gas bills, GST and other taxes until the PM resigns, " Khan said. In the 2013 election, Sharif had won by a landslide, taking 190 out of 342 seats. Khan’s PTI got 34 seats, but he claimed his party should have had many more seats. “Nawaz Sharif should resign as people have given their verdict against fraudulent elections by coming out in huge numbers here," said Khan. Parallel to Khan's gathering, cleric Qadri also addressed an equally impressive crowd and said Sharif should immediately quit.
"With fraudulent mandate, NS has expanded family business, increased debt burden on nation and lived like an oil sheikh on taxpayer money," he said in the tweet. Both Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Qadri are camping at different venues in the capital. They started separate rallies from Lahore on Thursday and reached in the national capital yesterday. Khan warned that if their demands are not met within a certain time period, ‘tsunami’ of his supporters would cross into the Red Zone and protest in front of the Parliament. “Don’t blame me if I failed to control these people (from entering high security area). I can control them until tomorrow (Sunday) night,” Khan said. On the other hand, Qadri presented a list of 14 demands in which he demanded that the Sharif government resign and the (provincial) Assemblies are dissolved “within 48 hours”. Khan is protesting against alleged rigging of last year polls while Qadri had announced to bring a revolution in the country. Political instability comes at a time when Pakistan is waging a war against militants, particularly in the restive tribal regions along its border with Afghanistan. Pakistan Supreme Court had on Friday issued an order against any unconstitutional step to remove the civilian government as protesters threatened to remove government which sparked fears of a possible military intervention in the coup-prone country. The Army, which has already been handed over the security of capital for three months, has a history of capturing power from democratically elected governments. In its 67-year history, Pakistan has witnessed three coups, including one against Sharif in 1999 by the then Army Chief General Parvez Musharraf. Khan and Qadri’s demands invited strong criticism from the PML-N government with Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid saying, "They (Khan and Qadri) are giving deadline to democracy in the country and not the government." He said both Khan and Qadri were allowed to go ahead with protests march after clear understanding to the government that they will respect the Red Zone. Altaf Hussan, London-based chief of Mutahida Qaumi Movement, urged both leaders to give up their extreme demand and withdraw deadlines. He also asked the government to start talks for finding a solution within the Constitution of the country. There are also reports that the government was planning to shift the venue of Khan’s protest which is a few hundreds meter away from the Red Zone. The government has so far followed the policy of "let the marchers and their leaders exhaust themselves". Sharif does not have immediate fears from them as both Khan and Qadri failed to pull expected number of people. The backdoor consultations are continuing and certain political actors like Jammat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq are working feverously to find a middle way. — PTI
Capital crisis
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