Nawaz Sharif Won't Step Down; to Address Joint Session of Parliament

The political crisis in Pakistan is becoming more intense by the day as incumbent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif informed his Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif that he won't resign in the wake of the recent protests staged by Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Express Tribune reports.

Prime Minister Sharif is, in fact, set to address a joint session of Parliament Tuesday to discuss the political situation as well as the violent demonstrations. The Parliament will be held all through the week, in which the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) government and the opposition parties will discuss the current deepening political conflict.

It has been learnt that General Sharif put forth a number of options before Nawaz including stepping down for a brief period of a month or so in order to let the investigations over last year's elections to conclude in a peaceful manner.

But, a senior PML-N leader said that the Prime Minister was not going to step down, and will address a joint session of Parliament Tuesday.

According to BBC, the army commanders of Pakistan are becoming increasingly concerned about the hostile situation in the country. They said that they are in full support of democracy after the clashes between the police forces and the agitators in Islamabad claimed three lives and left hundreds injured.

Protesters, loyal to opposition politician Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri, have been participating in a sit-in for around two weeks to demand Sharif's resignation.

They have alleged that Prime Minister Sharif has been involved in corruption and electoral fraud; however, he has denied these charges.