Pakistani protest leaders on Wednesday agreed to open talks with the government to end a political crisis after the country’s powerful military called for a meaningful dialogue, easing pressure on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Tens of thousands of protesters led by a Muslim cleric and an opposition politician are camping outside the parliament in Islamabad. They’ve said they want Sharif to step down.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and Pakistani-Canadian cleric Tahirul Qadri had rejected several concessions offered to them by the government since they led two separate rallies of supporters into Islamabad from Lahore earlier in the week.
Khan called for Sharif’s resignation and a fresh vote, saying there were irregularities in last year’s elections. Qadri demanded a complete overhaul of the electoral system before fresh polls.
But both eased their positions on Sharif’s resignation after a military spokesman called for a negotiated settlement of the crisis late on Tuesday night.
The military has ruled Pakistan for half of its history and is still influential.
Also on Wednesday, the Supreme Court summoned both protest leaders to explain how their demand for the premier’s resignation fell within the constitutional framework.
A team of ministers held first round of negotiations with Qadri in the evening and both sides announced they would continue talks.
It was a dramatic turn of events after Qadri urged his supporters to gather at the entry points to the parliament compound, where lawmakers and Sharif were holding a meeting in the afternoon.
“Besiege this building and don’t let them come out,” Qadri said in an address to supporters.
Khan’s aide Shah Mehmoud Qureshi said his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party was also ready to open talks.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the crisis might be over in the next 48 hours.
Sharif came to power last year in the country’s first-ever democratic transition.
GNA
PDC
