PAKISTAN: POLITICS - Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan holds political rally calling on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign

Record ID: 214766

  • Title: PAKISTAN: POLITICS - Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan holds political rally calling on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign
  • Date: 21st September 2014
  • Summary: OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER IMRAN KHAN WAVING TO CROWD FROM STAGE
  • Embargoed: 6th October 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAE2UAI331E20TGKORJ1W2P6TMD
  • Story Text: After weeks of demonstrations in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, calling for prime minister Nawaz Sharif to resign, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Sunday (September 21) addressed thousands of supporters in the southern port city of Karachi in a bid to expand his campaign.
    Protesters led by Khan and Tahir ul-Qadri, a firebrand cleric, have been locked in a bitter stand-off with the government since mid-August, refusing to leave their camp in Islamabad until Sharif steps down.
    Nawaz Sharif, weakened by demonstrations, threatened on Wednesday (September 17) to clear a protest camp set up more than a month ago outside government offices in Islamabad's high security Red Zone.
    But there haven't been any signs of crack down since then.
    The protest leaders accuse Sharif of rigging last year's election which brought him back to power in a landslide.
    Khan reassured the crowd his campaign would not end without the prime minister's resignation.

    "I tell you, Nawaz Sharif! This campaign will not end until you resign," Khan told thousands of flag-waving supporters.

    "My Pakistanis! Slavery is the fate of the nations who bow down to oppression and injustice. We have come to break the chains of slavery," said Khan.
    He promised the people of Karachi that he will deliver a just system adding that would only be possible if he had their support.
    Pakistan's opposition leaders ordered thousands of their supporters this weekend to resist any government attempt to quash their protests, prolonging a political crisis in the coup-prone country.
    Khan's party said it had not backed down from its demand that Sharif quit and was ending dialogue with the government after 100 activists were jailed over the weekend.
    Jehangir Tareen, Secretary General of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, told reporters on Tuesday they had not withdrawn their demand for the resignation of the prime minister, but Sharif told cheering supporters on Wednesday he would not resign on the wishes of a few thousand people.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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