Pakistan opposition leader Nawaz Sharif defied house arrest today to lead an anti-government convoy toward the barricaded capital, Islamabad, and a showdown with its pro-Western president.
Earlier, Mr Sharif’s supporters fought running battles with riot police in the eastern city of Lahore, a taste of what could come if authorities make good on pledges not to allow him and other anti-government protesters to enter Islamabad.
The power struggle between President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Sharif threatens to paralyse the one-year-old government and, alarmingly for the US, distract the nuclear-armed country from its fight against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants operating along the Afghan border.
“People have responded very overwhelmingly to the call of the hour, and I am thankful to the nation,” Mr Sharif told Geo television by phone from his car.
“This is a prelude to a revolution.”
A prolonged crisis could lead to early elections or force Mr Zardari to resign, particularly if the powerful military decides to intervene. Mr Sharif and Islamist parties would be well-placed to profit from any early elections given popular discontent with Mr Zardari’s party.
Mr Zardari’s spokesman said the president had no intention of resigning, while the information minister repeated earlier offers of negotiations to end the stand-off.
“We want to get the nation rid of this situation at the earliest, this state of instability and uncertainty,” Information Minister Qamar Zaman said.
Earlier today, hundreds of police surrounded Mr Sharif’s residence in Lahore, carrying an order for his house arrest, party spokesman Pervaiz Rasheed said.
But Sharif, who denounced the order as illegal, later left the house in a convoy of vehicles and headed into town.
Riot police had earlier fought running battles with stone-throwing protesters, turning the downtown into a battle zone littered with rocks and clouded with tear gas and smoke. A mob smashed windows of buses parked along the route of Sharif’s convoy.
But by evening the mood turned festive as police pulled back, and thousands of flag-waving supporters and black-suited lawyers turned out to cheer Mr Sharif, a local favourite.
It was unclear why the police, who were heavily outnumbered, apparently disobeyed orders and allowed Mr Sharif to travel.
The gathering in Lahore was the biggest yet in the buildup to plans for a mass sit-in in front of Parliament in the capital tomorrow.
The government, led by Mr Zardari’s party, has refused permission for the indefinite sit-in, arguing that it would paralyse the administration and present a target for terrorists. It has put the army on alert in case the unrest gets out of hand.
AP