2D9797496-131127_raheel_sharif.nbcnews-ux-720-900
Pakistan’s army chief was named mediator Thursday in a fortnight-long political crisis, fuelling speculation that the military could use the protests against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to re-assert its dominance over the civilian government.
Qadri and Khan announced General Raheel Sharif would mediate in the stand-off after the cleric earlier on Thursday rejected the government’s decision to launch a murder investigation that named the prime minister as a suspect, saying it was not enough.
“The Pakistan army chief has officially asked us if it will be acceptable to the Azadi (freedom) march if he becomes a mediator and guarantor,” Qadri told followers outside parliament Thursday.
“Do I have your consent?” he asked his audience, who loudly replied in the affirmative.
He added the army had asked for “24 hours for mediation”.
The protests’ other leader, cricket hero turned politician Imran Khan, confirmed the move in a separate speech.
“I want to tell you all that I will not disappoint you. The talks have already started,” he added.
The leaders later met with the army chief, according to a military spokesperson on Twitter.
PM named as a murder suspect
As well as wide-ranging calls for political reform, Qadri has demanded police bring murder charges against Sharif over the killing of at least 10 of his followers in clashes with police in the eastern city of Lahore.
Earlier, a statement from the prime minister’s office said that orders had been given to register a murder case against senior government officials including Sharif over the killing of Qadri’s followers in an apparent last-ditch effort to resolve the crisis.
But Qadri rejected the move, complaining the police had not included the same terror charges which were levelled at the cleric and his supporters over the incident against members of the government.
Nawaz Sharif meets army chief
Sharif met the powerful army chief General Raheel Sharif to discuss the standoff on Thursday, the second such meeting in as many days.
The two men agreed to “take necessary measures for resumption of stalled process of negotiations for an expeditious resolution in the best national interest”, a statement from the PM’s office said.
In a country that has seen three military coups, the threat of army intervention casts a shadow over virtually every moment of political crisis.
Thousands of demonstrators led by populist cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri and politician Imran Khan have camped outside the parliament building in Islamabad to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
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.
Source: Prothom Alo
