Pakistan’s opposition leader Imran Khan on Sunday threatened to “shut down” the entire country by December 16 if the Nawaz Sharif government failed to initiate an impartial probe into the alleged rigging in 2013 general elections.
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief, in a rally here outside the parliament, said that his protest will continue till the government initiate an inquiry into the “massive rigging” in last year’s general elections, which saw Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) win by a landslide.
“The ball is in your court, Nawaz Sharif — do your talks, do your investigations and solve the issue. We will close Pakistan down when December 16 comes, and what I do after that you will not be able to bear it ... It has been 109 days and ‘Naya Pakistan’ is waking up every day. We can all see it,” Khan was quoted as saying by Dawn.
“On Thursday (December 4), I will go to Lahore and shut it down. On December 8, I will shut down Faisalabad, on December 12, I will go to Karachi and shut it down. By December 16, I will shut down all of Pakistan if the poll inquiry is not initiated,” Khan said.
The cricketer-turned-politician has been holding protest-rallies in different cities to spread his movement, demanding a probe into the allegations of rigging the election.
Khan had launched his protest in mid-August, demanding Sharif’s ouster, but he later withdrew his main demand of the prime minister’s resignation ahead of the probe and offered the government to constitute a judicial commission comprising Supreme Court judges, ISI and military intelligence officials, to investigate the reported rigging.
Government set to talk
Pakistan government yesterday decided to resume dialogue with the PTI.
Dawn reported that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took the decision after his meeting with the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah.
After the government’s announcement of resuming talks with the PTI, a formal contact with the party was expected to be established soon.
Earlier today, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah said Information Minister Pervez Rashid’s statement that the government would not hold talks with PTI was disappointing.
It was necessary for the PML-N led government to hold talks with PTI, the Pakistan Peoples Party leader said, adding that in the other case, the government risked weakening its own standing.
The government had ruled out on Sunday the possibility of resuming dialogue with PTI.
