The leaders of two Pakistani protest movements have stepped up their calls for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign, claiming that the country's leader was elected fraudulently.  

Opposition politician and former cricket player Imran Khan addressed thousands of flag-waving supporters on Saturday, vowing not to leave the rally until Sharif steps down.

"The time has arrived when the nation should decide," Khan said. "We don't accept a prime minister who has been appointed after rigged elections.

"I can promise you that Prime Minister Imran Khan will never lie to you. What I promise, I will do it. I will not make false promises."

Anti-government cleric Tahir ul-Qadri, who has spearheaded a separate protest march from Lahore to the capital, also addressed the crowd calling for a "new national government" that could implement "democratic reforms".

"Through this government, first, every person or political leader or technocrat, bureaucrat, or public officer who has engaged in corruption should be held accountable."

He also gave the government a 48-hour deadline to resign. It was unclear what he was threatening to do if the deadline expires, but his language suggested some kind of force.

"We have come to change the system," said Syed Saboor, a labourer and Qadri supporter. 

"I have spent the last two nights sleeping on the side of the road. I will stay until the government resigns," he said. 

Sharif has only been in office for 15 months. The May 2013 general election saw him take power in a landslide, which international monitors said were free and credible.

Meanwhile, a Lahore sessions court on Saturday ordered the police to register a First Information Report against Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and 19 others in connection with a shooting at a Qadri rally in June that killed at least seven people. The registration of a case in connection with that event has been one of Qadri's key demands.

(Aljazeera)