PAKISTAN’S main opposition leader Imran Khan says he is pulling out of talks with the government until Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns. The two sides began discussions last night, after thousands of opposition supporters occupied a high-security zone in front of parliament. Protesters say Mr Sharif came to power through electoral fraud. Parliament had declared Mr Khan’s week-long political campaign to bring down the Prime Minister unconstitutional. Both Mr Khan, the leader of the PTI party, and Tahirul Qadri, who heads the PAT party, are demanding the resignation of PM Nawaz Sharif. Mr Sharif’s party won last year’s elections by a landslide in what was Pakistan’s first peaceful transfer of power between two civilian democratic governments. He denies allegations of corruption or electoral vote-rigging. Mr Khan’s party said it had presented six demands – which included the resignation of Mr Sharif – for continuing the discussions with the government. The government said these demands had no legal basis.A week-long campaign in an attempt to bring down the government culminated in thousands of protesters breaching security to enter Islamabad’s “red zone” on Tuesday. The high-security area of the capital contains several key government buildings, including parliament, and foreign embassies. Soldiers guarding the zone showed no resistance to the crowds of protesters and instead called on both sides to hold talks to end the impasse. MPs were forced to use a rear exit to leave the parliament building on Wednesday. Although both protest movements are calling for Mr Sharif’s resignation, they are not formally allied. Imran called for the formation of a caretaker government – composed of non-political people – which can implement electoral reforms and call fresh elections. The PTI Chairman said the Supreme Court could order the formation of the caretaker government in response to a question as to whether the army was going to implement these changes. We do not accept an investigative commission which has members of the government in its ranks, Imran said. He said Nawaz Sharif did not want to resign because he was worried about his businesses in the country and was afraid of getting exposed. Responding to a question, Khan said his supporters would continue to be here and if they began to disperse then he would leave it to that time.Political leaders on both sides should be careful in search of a political solution.
