Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was clinging to power as protesters continued with their protest for their rights. The capital was gripped with fear and confusion about whether the country’s powerful military will step in to defuse the tension. However, the military as forcefully refused any involvement in politics and vowed to maintain its neutrality.
The demonstrations who are calling for the prime minister’s resignation have enter their third week. The violence however is increasing following government’s brutal crackdown on mostly peaceful protesters, and what started as a routine demonstration has changed into a do or die situation for both sides.
Imran Khan who heads the second largest party of Pakistan and Tahirul Qadri, a renowned moderate religious scholar, allege that Sharif was elected last year in fraudulent balloting and hasn’t done enough to fix the country’s ailing economy. Almost all of the parties who contested the elections have blamed the electoral process as completely fraudulent including the incumbent PMLN.
Imran Khan and Qadri have mobilized tens of thousands of followers onto the streets. All big cities of the countries are witnessing sit ins by followers of PTI and PAT.
Over the weekend, the demonstration took an ominous turn as three people were killed and 400 wounded when police used tear gas and rubber bullets to prevent protesters from reaching Sharif’s residence in Islamabad. On Monday, the protesters, which many blamed to be PMLN paid agents, stormed the state television station and knocked it off the air for more than an hour.
The protests spread to other major Pakistani cities over the weekend, and there is rampant speculation in Pakistan that military leaders could intervene and force Sharif to resign.
Sharif met with Army Chief Raheel Sharif on Monday afternoon, the third such face-to-face encounter between the two men since late last week. But Sharif, who is not related to the army chief, issued a statement late in the day saying he will not voluntarily resign.
“I will not resign under any pressure and I will not go on leave,” Sharif said. “There shall be no precedent in Pakistan that only a few people take as hostage the mandate of millions by resorting to force.”
Pakistan’s military issued a statement saying it was an “apolitical institution” with “unequivocal support for democracy.” The statement also “categorically rejected” suggestions that the military was secretly backing Khan and Qadri over Sharif.
But Sharif’s government appears increasingly vulnerable, which is alarming Western officials and many analysts. Last year, Sharif’s election marked the first successful transfer of power from one democratically elected government to another in Pakistan. It was a proud, historic moment in a country that has experienced three successful military coups since its founding in 1947.
“There is complete confusion about what is happening,” said Hasan Askari, a Lahore-based political and military analyst. “On one hand it appears the state is collapsing, and on the other hand there appears to be a stalemate.”
