According to petitioners, protesters are breaching the rights of the common citizen which ensure freedom of movement and right of assembly.
Sharif has remained defiant in the face of protests by thousands of supporters of Khan and Qadri camping outside the Parliament demanding his resignation and re-elections to be held.
“We have survived difficult times. In the 2008 elections, our hands were tied. But we campaigned and participated, we did not cry about rigging—and it would have been a legitimate cry,” Sharif said while addressing the National Assembly, his first major speech since the crisis erupted.
“Because at that time there was a dictator that controlled the government. He held those elections...But we said if PPP has got more seats than us then we will accept that right of the PPP,” he said.
Sharif expressed hope that this phase will pass and Pakistan will be steered towards prosperity.
The Prime Minister in his address indicated in no uncertain terms that his PML-N-led government that has been in power since June last year and the present Parliament are here to stay.
“We are not going to be diverted by these things. The journey for the supremacy of Constitution and law in Pakistan will continue with full determination and God willing there will not be any interruption in it,” he said. Sharif said his PML-N for five years worked with the Pakistan People's Party government and supported it to complete its term.
“I visited him (Imran Khan) in the hospital when he was injured and he congratulated me on winning the polls and said he will play the role of a constructive opposition,” Sharif told the House.
“Imran's claims were published in the papers as well,” he said, adding that PTI had reservations but accepted the results of the elections.
Days after its lawmakers resigned from the National Assembly, PTI's Punjab Assembly members today submitted their resignations, stepping up pressure on the embattled government.
Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly and PTI member Mehmoodur Rashid and 28 other party members handed their resignations from the house in the Punjab Assembly Secretariat.
However, two PTI MPAs from Punjab, Nighat Inqiar and Jahanzaib Kichi, did not submit their resignations and Rashid said the two lawmakers were “reluctant” to resign.
Railways Minister Saad Rafiq said Khan and Qadri should not insist on Sharif's resignation.
Even as Rafiq assured that there will be no crackdown on the protesters, the Punjab Police's Anti Terrorist Squad posted 500 officials in the “Red Zone” area where the demonstrators are camping.
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