Pakistan protesters besiege parliament building

Marching in their thousands and united in their call for Premier Nawaz Sharif’s resignation, Pakistani protesters have besieged the parliament building in the capital, Islamabad.

The protesters blocked the two main gates of the legislature on Wednesday.

Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) chief Tahir ul Qadri led two separate marches from the eastern city of Lahore on August 14 to Islamabad to press ahead with their demands, including the resignation of Sharif.

Sharif has ordered the Supreme Court to build an investigative team to look into last year’s election but has said he will not resign as prime minister.

Talks between Pakistani authorities and opposition representatives have ended with no concrete results to solve the country’s political standoff.

Also on Wednesday, a government delegation met with representatives of Qadri in a bid to resolve the impasse. The session, however, was finished with no significant result. It is not clear if the negotiations will resume on Thursday.

The alleged murder of at least 10 supporters of the PAT movement, who were killed during skirmishes with the police in the city of Lahore in June, was a dominant issue during the negotiations, a member of Qadri’s team has said.

Imran Khan had earlier announced his readiness to participate in the negotiations.