Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will not yield to pressure from the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) that demands his resignation and dissolution of the parliament by January 31, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th December, 2020) Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will not yield to pressure from the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) that demands his resignation and dissolution of the parliament by January 31, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday.
Qureshi made these remarks after the PDM hold a mass rally in the city of Lahore on Monday, and asked Khan's government to quit by the end of 2020. The PDM's president Maulana Fazl ur Rehman threatened to organize a protest rally in the capital of Islamabad, if the prime minister refused to resign.
"We reject your ultimatum. You say the prime minister should resign by Jan 31. We are categorically saying the prime minister of Pakistan will not step down," Qureshi said at a press conference, as quoted by Pakistan's Dawn newspaper.
The minister stressed that Khan had also refused to meet the opposition's demands by dissolving Pakistan's National Assembly.
"You say assemblies should be dissolved. The prime minister has said and I am repeating, assemblies will not be dissolved. The deadline stands rejected," Qureshi said.
The minister added that the government is ready to establish a dialogue with the PDM to settle their differences.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement is a coalition formed in September by the opposition parties, including Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Peoples Party, the leaders of which traditionally ruled the country before the 2018 general election won by Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The movement aims to oust the incumbent Pakistani prime minister, claiming that the 2018 election was rigged by the influential Pakistani army to change the balance of power in the political arena.
