Tens of thousands hold anti-PM rally in Pakistan

16 Avqust 2014 12:07 | 755

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied Saturday in Pakistan's capital, defying the pouring rain to demand the prime minister step down in the biggest challenge yet to the country's government.

Imran Khan, a famous cricketer who now leads the country's third-biggest political bloc, and a fiery anti-government cleric called for the rallies in Islamabad, focused on making Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif leave office and holding new elections.

Sharif, who took office just a year ago in the first democratic transfer of power in a country long plagued by military coups, has said he'll stay in power, raising fears of possible political instability in this nuclear power.

"I'll sit here and Nawaz Sharif, you decide. You have just one option — resign and hold re-elections," Khan told supporters gathered Saturday in the lashing rain.

Khan said that the current leadership was unacceptable. "We do not recognize them, we have to get justice, we have to get freedom from these types of rulers," he said.

Rana Sanaullah, a senior leader of Sharif's ruling party, said the government was ready to investigate allegations of electoral fraud, but ruled out Sharif could be removed through a rally. Sharif won a landslide election in May 2013.

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