PAKISTAN: Pakistan protesters flood the centre of Islamabad, vowing to stay in the streets until Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns

Record ID: 214729

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Pakistan protesters flood the centre of Islamabad, vowing to stay in the streets until Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns
  • Date: 16th August 2014
  • Summary: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (AUGUST 16, 2014) (REUTERS) SHAH FAISAL MOSQUE/CAR DRIVING THROUGH STREET CAR CARRYING POPULIST CLERIC, TAHIR UL-QADRI/QADRI SUPPORTERS SUPPORTERS MAKING VICTORY SIGN QADRI GETTING OUT OF CAR CROWD QADRI ARRIVING ON STAGE
  • Embargoed: 31st August 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9PJGJZ2GCNG03ESY2T6MP5LZQ
  • Story Text: More than 20,000 anti-government protesters, led by populist Cleric Tahir ul-Qadri, blockaded the streets of Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Saturday (August 16) vowing not to move until Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns.
    Numbers were far below what protest organizers expected. But the numbers are enough to paralyse the central business district and presents the biggest challenge yet to the 15-month-old civilian government.
    Speaking to his supporters in Islamabad, Qadri said the movement wanted radical change without violence.
    Qadri is a cleric and political activist who controls a network of schools and Islamic charities.
    He wants the prime minister to resign and a new government of technocrats installed.
    He has promised his supporters he will crack down on corruption, and generate enough funds to pay for homes, jobs, cheap energy and water.

    "Our revolution is a hundred percent, a thousand percent, a million percent peaceful. Our revolution is democratic. Our revolution means change," he said.
    Protesters said they would stand firm.

    "I will stay here until the success of democracy. I will stay with you until the success of true democracy, until the end of brutality, until the end of corruption, and until the moment the people of Pakistan get their rights," he told supporters.
    Former cricket star Imran Khan, who heads the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, was also holding a smaller protest sit-in on an adjacent street. Khan also wants Sharif to step down, accusing him of rigging last year's elections.
    Some members of Sharif's party have suggested the protests are secretly backed by elements in the military, which has had an uneasy relationship with the prime minister To what extent Khan and Qadri can destabilise the government is likely to depend on the stance taken by the armed forces, which has a long history of mounting coups.
    Few people fear a coup, but many officials think the threat of unrest will increase the military's hold over the government.
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