Something had to eventually give in the three-week old political standoff between Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the simultaneous but separate protests in Islamabad led by Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaaf and Tahirul Qadri’s Awami Tehreek. Khan and Qadri were demanding the resignation of Sharif, who was elected with a massive mandate last year. As the government negotiated with the protestors, a compromise seemed at hand Saturday. Sharif had apparently agreed to most of the demands of the protestors. The PM was ready to take a month’s leave of absence in which many of the allegations against him could be assessed by a judicial inquiry. Sharif was reportedly ready to step down and hold fresh elections if the allegations were found true. But Khan and Qadri insisted on Sharif’s immediate and unconditional resignation.
In a decisive escalation, Khan and Qadri decided to move their protests, until now peaceful, from the parliament house to the prime minister’s residence. The government ordered the police to block the marches and street clashes ensued. A handful of deaths were reported by Sunday evening; hundreds were injured and the toll could mount as the confrontation intensifies. But it looks less likely by the hour that Nawaz Sharif will survive the present confrontation. There has been widespread suspicion that Khan and Qadri had the backing of the Rawalpindi-based army leadership, whose distrust of Sharif is well known. There have also been major policy differences between the PM and the army.
