Imran wants neutral caretaker PM, warns of `tsunami march`

Islamabad: Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has threatened to launch a "tsunami march" if a "neutral" caretaker prime minister was not appointed before general elections, a media report said. "The PTI will take out a huge tsunami march if a neutral umpire (caretaker prime minister) is not appointed," Dawn News quoted Imran Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), as saying at a press conference Saturday.

"We will protest to save democratic process from a total disaster." Referring to the long march led by Pakistan-born Canadian cleric Tahirul Qadri, Khan said: "The status quo forces are now claiming that the long march has failed. Actually, this was the first step towards change as thousands of people came out on roads to bring about a change." Imran Khan, who had refused to join the Tehrik-e-Minhajul Quran`s (TMQ) sit-in at the last moment, on one hand termed Qadri`s march a positive step but on the other called it unconstitutional", saying the PTI always resisted "unconstitutional moves". Imran said the declaration signed by the government with Qadri had no legal or constitutional status and it was not binding on the rulers. Asked about it, Imran Khan did not rule out the possibility of electoral alliance with TMQ chief Qadri. However, he said that Qadri was yet to decide about participation in the general elections. Qadri, who shook the Pakistan government with his three-day siege of the capital demanding dissolution of parliament, left for Lahore Friday after signing an agreement with the government on the timing of the general elections. The cleric reached an agreement with the government after a 10-member committee, formed by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, held negotiations with him to end the sit-in in Islamabad. IANS