• Army chief mediates on PM’s request, meets Imran, Qadri separately • Imran says army has offered to ensure fairness of judicial inquiry into vote rigging allegations but he still sticks to his demand for PM’s scalp • Nawaz accused of undercutting the power of parliament by asking army to play a mediator’s role • A ‘soft coup’ is said to have already taken place but the question is when it will harden

ZULFIQAR AHMAD, FAZAL SHER & WAQAR LILLAH

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI chief Imran Khan has said that he sticks to his party’s pressing demand for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation despite an assurance by chief of army staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif that army would play the role of a ‘mediator and guarantor’ to ensure an impartial probe into alleged poll rigging through a judicial commission.

Talking to his supporters and media persons after his meeting with COAS late Thursday night at GHQ Rawalpindi, Imran said he called on Gen Raheel Sharif on latter’s request as government had sought army’s support to act as a mediator/guarantor to end the ongoing political impasse.

“I want to make it crystal clear that without resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, there will be no independent probe into May 2013 general election rigging….so our first demand is resignation of Nawaz Sharif and there is no second opinion about it,” he said about his one-on-one meeting with Gen Raheel.

“I’ve told Gen Raheel that the government has distributed a huge sum of cash among journalists and lawyers. We know that Rs25 million was distributed among different media persons while a similar amount was stolen from the residence of Lahore High Court (LHC) bar president.” He asked: “How did this lawyer get money?”

Imran said he had told the COAS that without Nawaz’s resignation there could be no independent investigation, adding he had expressed his concerns to the army chief and told him “we have shown flexibility to the extend he [Nawaz] remains party leader but he should step down till completion if an independent investigation into rigging.”

“If the government accepts our demand for resignation by tomorrow (today) afternoon, we will celebrate here otherwise we will announce tomorrow our further course of action of how to expand our protests to other,” he declared.

Pakistan Army finally stepped in to defuse the lingering political crisis on Thursday after Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri shut all doors of negotiations on the government, sticking to their pressing demand of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in their separate addresses to the protesters declared that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif has offered to play his role as a mediator for finding an amicable solution to the issue within 24 hours.

The army jumped into the fray after a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saw no light at the end of tunnel when both the parties announced that they would continue their anti-government sit-ins till the acceptance of their demands.

A day ago, Qadri warned of a bloodbath mentally preparing his shroud-clad supporters to be ready for ‘martyrdom’ if government did not accept their charter of demands. He came out from his shipping container with a message: “Gen Raheel Sharif just telephoned me and has sought 24 hours to resolve the issue solely on his own guarantee”.

“I leave this up to you now whether or not you are ready to accept the military’s offer or not. We’ve to wait for 24 hours and if they [army] can find a solution which we think is according to our demands, or else will decide our future course of action,” Qadri sought the opinion of his supporters, to which they agreed.

“Those who dubbed the army as men with slingshots have now pleaded army chief Gen Raheel Sharif to become a mediator…all this happened under pressure from you people,” Qadri declared while referring to PML-N-army love-hate relations in the past.

He said that army chief has offered PTI and PAT to prepare a package of our demands by becoming ‘mediator and guarantor’ and sought 24 hours, adding this has happened for the first time in country’s history that any army chief has become a guarantor to resolve any political issue.

PTI chairman Imran Khan, speaking shortly after Qadri’s address, echoed his remarks, saying he has deferred the announcements of some highly important steps for 24 hours on the request of Gen Raheel Sharif who has offered to play a mediator’s role to end the crisis.

He reiterated that he would not accept any other formula unless the people involved in election rigging are brought to book. Before leaving the sit-in camp for talks with the army high-ups, Imran told his supporters to remain steadfast and assured them he would not budge from his pressing demands.

Imran left for a crucial meeting with Gen Raheel Sharif in his bulletproof vehicle, driven by his party secretary general Jehangir Khan Tareen, saying: “Whether we will get a good new tomorrow or will proceed with our anti-government campaign as the government is now in a walled-street”.

Later, chief military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa confirmed through his verified tweet, “Army Chief will meet PTI chairman Imran Khan and chairman PAT Allama Tahirul Qadri tonight (Thursday)”. After an hour, through another tweet, he said ‘COAS General Raheel Sharif’s meeting with PTI chairman Imran Khan begins in Rawalpindi.’

The major anti-government protest staged by PTI and PAT entered 14th day on Thursday.

A large number of people some armed with sticks reached at sit-in camp of PTI while PAT supporters have already camped in front of parliament house inside the so-called red zone for the last several days.

There were reports in the evening that protesters might storm the prime minister house situated hardly a few yards from sit-in camps after the talks between government, PTI and PAT run into snags.

A large number of security personnel were put on high alert, the entry points of Parliament House, Prime Minister House, Secretariat and Supreme Court buildings were sealed off to keep the crowd away in case of any attempt to enter the important government buildings.

Besides police, rangers and army jawans were deployed in three layers to protect the government installations. As the government has already invoked Article 245 of the constitution, the army jawans were seen guarding the buildings.

Quoting the Wall Street Journal adds: “If Nawaz Sharif survives, for the rest of his term, he will be a ceremonial prime minister—the world will not take him seriously,” said Ayesha Siddiqa, an analyst based in Islamabad. “A soft coup has already taken place. The question is whether it will harden.”