Muhammad Tahir-ul Qadri, an Islamic cleric, took up the banner of political leadership and led a massive two-day march to the middle of the Pakistani capital city of Islamabad. The crowd of tens of thousands of people rallied outside the parliament building as Qadri and his supporters called for the ousting of the Pakistani national government. Qadri urged supporters to continue their sit-in until Wednesday. Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is being accused by his opponents of corruption and violating the “principle of transparency.”
“We are here in front of the parliament house just to save our country from collapse and from complete ruin,” he said. “We need substantial changes and reforms in our democratic political electoral system. We want to put democracy in its letter and spirit in place.”
Qadri has also demanded the Pakistani military and judiciary be involved in the creation of a “caretaker” government that would oversee the general elections in May.
Imran Khan, the leader of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, said that his party members would join in the protests if the Prime Minister did not resign and the parliament was not dissolved within eight days.
“The government should immediately announce new elections and should also announce a date for it,” Khan said at a news conference. “Change is not possible without holding of free and fair elections,” he added.
The rally ultimately met with police violence and Ashraf dismissed the demands for his resignation as “illegal and unconstitutional,” claiming he is immune from judicial prosecution while in office.
The Pakistan Supreme Court apparently disagrees. It issued an order for the Prime Minister’s arrest and 15 other people. Specifically, these arrests are being ordered in relation to bribery Ashraf allegedly accepted in exchange for permitting power generation projects in Pakistan when he was Minister for Water and Power in 2010.
