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Imran Khan returns to negotiating table
Mounting further pressure, 34 opposition lawmakers resigned from the National Assembly on Friday to force the Nawaz Sharif government to quit but their party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf surprisingly decided to resume talks after the failed first round.
Khan party lawmakers resign from Pak National Assembly
Not mediating between Pak govt and protesting parties: US
Islamabad: Mounting further pressure, 34 opposition lawmakers resigned from the National Assembly on Friday to force the Nawaz Sharif government to quit but their party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf surprisingly decided to resume talks after the failed first round.
For the second time since it mobilised thousands of supporters for anti-government protests in Islamabad demanding Sharif's resignation, the core committee of Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) met and discussed the current crisis.
The meeting took place after senior leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi handed over the resignations, including that of Khan, to Secretary of the National Assembly Muhammad Riaz, mounting more pressure on the beleaguered government. The resignations do not affect the stability of the government which enjoys a majority with ruling PML-N having 190 members in a House of 342. Khan's PTI is the third largest party in the National Assembly. Following the core committee meeting, Qureshi told reporters that "PTI is ready for talks." After one round of talks on Wednesday both Khan's PTI and cleric Tahirul Qadri-led Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) had suspended dialogue with the government. Till now, Khan has been insisting that talks can take place only after Sharif, who has been in power for over 15 months, resigns.
The anti-government protests in Pakistan are in their second week with thousands of supporters of PTI chief Khan and firebrand cleric Qadri camping outside the Parliament building here. Meanwhile, the US has said it is not mediating between the Pakistani government and the opposition parties, who are leading a protest in Islamabad demanding resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over allegations of corruption and election rigging.
"We are monitoring the demonstrations. Obviously, we think there should be a space in Pakistan for peaceful expression of views...We are in no way involved in the process or the discussion between the parties. Any suggestion to the contrary is completely false," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters.
