Imran Khan’s opposition party, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI), says it has decided to resign all its seats in Pakistan’s national assembly.
A senior member of party said they were trying to force PM Nawaz Sharif to step down.
The PTI party has 34 of the national assembly’s 342 seats, making it the second biggest opposition group.
Imran Khan has called for the prime ministers to step down, alleging vote rigging in the 2013 election that he won by a landslide.
Shah Mehmud Qureshi, a senior PTI leader, said the party would also withdraw from three out of four provincial assemblies in Pakistan.
The fourth province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is under PTI control and officials there will not resign, he said.
The members of parliament’s resignations must be submitted to the national assembly speaker but correspondents said this would not happen on Monday as parliament had adjourned for the day.
Imran Khan has called for Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif to step down, alleging vote rigging in the 2013 election that he won by a landslide (photo Wikipedia)
Imran Khan, a former captain of Pakistan’s cricket team, has been demonstrating along with thousands of his supporters in the capital Islamabad since Friday to demand fresh elections.
His rally took place at the same time as a similar demonstration by anti-government cleric Tahirul Qadri, who told crowds that the protests must continue until they bring a “peaceful revolution”.
Nawaz Sharif’s victory was the first democratic transfer of power in Pakistan, which has a long history of coups.
Critics say Tahirul Qadri has close ties to Pakistan’s armed forces.
Supporters of Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri are angry about Pakistan’s poorly performing economy, growing militancy, and the government’s failure to deliver services such as a steady electricity supply.
However, other opposition figures have criticized the demonstrations and Imran Khan’s call for people to stop paying tax bills in protest at the government.
Former president Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, the largest opposition party, said such “unconstitutional means” would not help the cause.
“Democracy will not be served by calls for civil disobedience nor by a stubborn refusal by any side to engage in a meaningful dialogue on political issues,” Asif ALi Zardari said in a statement.
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The funeral of the murdered vice-president of Pakistan’s PTI party, Zahra Shahid Hussain, has been held at a mosque in the country’s capital, Karachi.
Zahra Shahid Hussain was shot dead outside her home in Karachi by gunmen on a motorcycle.
PTI leader Imran Khan has blamed one of his political rivals for the killing.
On his Twitter feed, Imran Khan said he was holding the leader of Karachi’s dominant MQM party, Altaf Hussain, responsible for her death – a claim the MQM has strongly denied.
It came as Karachi voted in a partial re-run of Pakistan’s general election.
Police are investigating whether Zahra Shahid Hussain’s killing was the result of an attempted robbery or a politically motivated murder.
Doctors at Karachi’s Jinnah Hospital havesaid their initial examination showed two bullet marks on her body. A full post-mortem report is expected to be released.
Imran Khan, a former captain of Pakistan’s cricket team, said Altaf Hussain, who is in self-imposed exile in London, had “openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts”.
He said he was also holding the British government responsible, as he said he had warned it about Altaf Hussain.
Imran Khan tweeted his accusations from his hospital bed, where he is recovering from a back injury sustained during a fall at an election rally in Lahore.
Last week, police in London confirmed they were investigating complaints that Altaf Hussain had broken UK laws by issuing threats in a speech he made the day after the vote.
In response to accusations of electoral fraud, he is alleged to have threatened his accusers with violence.
The funeral of the murdered vice-president of Pakistan’s PTI party, Zahra Shahid Hussain, has been held at a mosque in Karachi
Altaf Hussain and his supporters say that his remarks were taken out of context. He has lived in the UK since 1991, saying his life would be at risk if he returned to Pakistan.
MQM spokesman Mohammad Anwar said that Imran Khan’s comments were the “groundless, baseless” accusations of a man who had suffered a bitter, unexpected loss in the election.
He said there was only one reason that Imran Khan could have issued a statement of blame just minutes after the killing: “He is behind the murder. He is the mastermind.”
Last Sunday’s electoral re-run in Karachi was ordered after Imran Khan’s party accused the MQM of widespread vote-rigging and intimidation.
The MQM – which took most of the seats in Karachi – denies any irregularities and is boycotting the vote, which is taking place under tight security.
Voter turn-out appeared slow but steady.
The PTI is hoping to win the vote and make inroads in Pakistan’s commercial capital.
Whatever the outcome of the re-run, it will not overturn the overall result of last week’s vote, in which conservative leader Nawaz Sharif secured an unprecedented third term in power.
The MQM is seen as a perpetrator – as well as a victim – of violence in Karachi.
Since the 1980s, it has won every election it has contested there.
But it also stands widely accused of ruling Karachi by fear and through vote-rigging.
The general election on May 11 marked the first transition of power from one democratically elected government since the creation of the state of Pakistan in 1947.
However, the campaign was marred by violence in which about 150 people were killed across the country.
The MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) is supported mainly by Muslim Urdu-speaking people whose families moved to Sindh province at the time of the partition of India in 1947.
Voting in Karachi on May 11 was disrupted by a bomb attack outside the office of the ANP party, in which 11 people were killed and more than 40 injured.
The bombing happened in the Landhi district of Karachi, where Taliban militants are known to be active.
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Former cricketer Imran Khan, the leader of Pakistan’s PTI party, has blamed one of his political rivals for the killing of PTI vice-president Zahra Shahid Hussain.
Zahra Shahid Hussain was shot dead outside her home in Karachi by gunmen on a motorcycle.
On his Twitter feed, Imran Khan said he was holding the leader of Karachi’s dominant MQM party, Altaf Hussain, responsible for her death – a claim the MQM has strongly denied.
It comes as Karachi votes in a partial re-run of Pakistan’s general election.
Police say the motive for Zahra Shahid Hussain’s shooting is unclear.
Imran Khan said Altaf Hussain, who is in self-imposed exile in London, had “openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts”.
He said he was also holding the British government responsible, as he said he had warned them about Altaf Hussain.
Imran Khan tweeted his accusations from his hospital bed, where he is recovering from a back injury sustained during a fall at an election rally in Lahore.
Imran Khan said he was holding the leader of Karachi’s dominant MQM party, Altaf Hussain, responsible for Zahra Shahid Hussain’s death
Last week, police in London confirmed they were investigating complaints that Altaf Hussain had broken UK laws by issuing threats in a speech he made the day after the vote.
In response to accusations of electoral fraud, he is alleged to have threatened his accusers with violence.
Altaf Hussain says that his remarks were taken out of context.
He has lived in the UK since 1991, saying his life would be at risk if he returned to Pakistan.
Sunday’s electoral re-run in Karachi was ordered after Imran Khan’s party accused the MQM of widespread vote-rigging and intimidation.
The MQM – which took most of the seats in Karachi – denies any irregularities and is boycotting the vote.
Security is tight, and correspondents say tensions in Karachi are running high.
Whatever the outcome of the re-run, it will not overturn the result of last week’s vote, in which conservative leader Nawaz Sharif secured an unprecedented third term in power.
The MQM is seen as a perpetrator – as well as a victim – of violence in the city.
Since the 1980s, the MQM has won every election it has contested there.
But it also stands widely accused of ruling Karachi by fear and through vote-rigging.
The general election on May 11 marked the first transition of power from one democratically elected government since the creation of the state of Pakistan in 1947.
However, the campaign was marred by violence in which about 150 people were killed across the country.
Zahra Shahid Hussain was shot by gunmen on a motorcycle outside her home in Karachi’s upmarket Defence area, the family neighborhood of assassinated Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
The MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) is supported mainly by Muslim Urdu-speaking people whose families moved to Sindh province at the time of the partition of India in 1947.
Voting in Karachi on May 11 was disrupted by a bomb attack outside the office of the ANP party, in which 11 people were killed and more than 40 injured.
The bombing happened in the Landhi district of Karachi, where Taliban militants are known to be active.
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