A populist cleric leading a two-week protest to try to oust the Pakistani government said on Thursday talks to end the standoff had failed and his followers would be free to leave after he made a “final and historic speech”.
Thousands of followers of Tahir-ul-Qadri have camped outside the parliament building in Islamabad to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, saying he headed a corrupt administration and demanding wide-ranging political reforms.
A parallel protest led by former cricketer Imran Khan is also calling for Sharif to go, alleging the general election that brought him to power last year was rigged.
The two-week showdown at the heart of the capital has rattled the nuclear-armed state and shaken Sharif’s government just 15 months in to a five-year mandate.
A week of on-off talks have made little obvious headway and on Thursday Qadri’s team announced they had failed and the cleric would make his “final and historic” speech at 6:00pm (1300 GMT).
“After this speech Dr Qadri will have no control over the protesters and they will be allowed to leave,” Qadri spokesman Shahid Mursaleen said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear whether Qadri was calling off the protest, though a source close to his camp said he may be planning to return to the eastern city of Lahore.
Source: Prothom Alo