Pakistan Minister Quits to End Standoff With Islamist Group

(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s law minister resigned as the government moved to end a three-week long protest by supporters of an Islamist right-wing party that had besieged the nation’s capital, Islamabad.

The government of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and leaders of the little-known party, Tehreek-e-Labaik, signed an accord on Monday, the ruling party’s senior leader Raja Zafarul Haq said. 

It agreed to accept Law Minister Zahid Hamid’s resignation for overseeing changes to an oath lawmakers have to take. Hamid had tweaked a declaration that Muhammad is the last prophet of Islam -- a move seen to accommodate the persecuted minority Ahmadiyya Muslim sect, which believes in an additional prophet after Muhammad. 

Within days, the government withdrew the change in the oath, fearing a backlash by religious groups, but that did not satisfy protesters. As part of the deal, the government also agreed to act against those responsible for making the changes to the oath, Haq said.

Clerics and supporters of the group have been blocking a main highway for three weeks, effectively cutting off Islamabad.

Violent clashes between government forces and the protesters led to the deaths of eight people over the weekend, while Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa met Abbasi on Sunday and advised against deploying the army, Dawn television channel reported. Abbasi’s administration ordered paramilitary forces known as the rangers to clear the protesters.

“It’s a must that they end protests in all cities immediately,” Haq said by phone. Hamid gave his resignation to the premier “voluntarily,” state-run Pakistan television channel reported on Monday morning.

Leadership Vacuum

There’s a leadership vacuum in the government now that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shehbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab province, are focused on their own survival and protecting their assets in the face of criminal investigations, said Hasnain Malik, head of equities research at Exotix Partners LLP in Dubai. “The unwillingness to demonstrate currency flexibility and deal with the recent protesters at an early stage are rooted in the same cause,” he said.

There is a lack of focus as the prime minister is also acting as finance minister and Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has additional charge of minister for planning, Malik said.

Pakistan’s army has played a key role in the nation’s history, leading four military coups since independence from Britain in 1947.

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