LAHORE: PPP Punjab President Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo has asked Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to resign after the court's direction to register a murder case against him (Shahbaz) and others for their alleged involvement in killings at Model Town on June 17.

"The court has ordered registration of a case over the Model Town incident. Now Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif should honour his commitment and resign forthwith," Wattoo told a news conference here on Thursday.

He said a peaceful procession was the fundamental right of people under democracy and it did not require any administrative action.

"The use of brutal force in Model Town against the unarmed Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers was totally unjustified," he said, adding the Model Town incident had aggravated the already volatile situation in the country.

Mr Wattoo said it was the government's responsibility to take initiative in resolving the crisis in the wake of sit-ins by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and PAT. He said had the government responded to the demand of the PTI earlier by opening the four constituencies of Lahore for votes' verification the crisis would not have arisen.

The PPP leader said his party continued supporting democracy and it would oppose any move against the democratic process.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2014