Islamabad: Khawaja Sa’ad Rafique, minister for Railways, held a meeting with Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s Chief Tahir-ul-Qadri in Islamabad on Sunday during which he requested the cleric to convert the deadlock into dialogue.

Talking to media, Rafique said he was confident that negotiations between the party and the government would begin soon. Rafique also said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could not resign on demand, referring to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan’s calls for the prime minister to resign for a month during which a probe into alleged poll rigging would be completed.

Imran made this demand on Saturday after the third round of talks between the government and PTI faced a deadlock over Sharif’s resignation.

In an interview on Sunday, he said Imran kept changing his stance. He said the slogan of civil disobedience was confined to Imran only as no one else expressed solidarity with his announcement.

Rafique expressed confidence that the issue would be resolved through negotiations.

Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif held talks at the Jati Umra on Sunday to discuss the ongoing crisis.

According to reports, the PML-N leaders met to discuss the current political crisis and developments following the meeting with former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Meanwhile, Shahbaz Sharif denied reports that the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) government was considering his resignation as a means to end the political crisis.

Reports revealed that Nawaz Sharif was informed about the decision of Shahbaz Sharif’s resignation from his post of Punjab chief minister during a meeting held between the two brothers at Jati Umra.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan Peoples Party leader Shaukat Basra claimed that the government was ready to register a First Information Report over the Model Town incident, which claimed the lives of at least 14 people on June 17, and was also considering the option of Shahbaz Sharif’s resignation.

Basra further said that Raja Ashfaq Sarwar and Mujtaba Shuja were being considered as options for the post of chief minister if Sharif were to resign.

Meanwhile, former President Pervez Musharraf said that all corrupt leaders have gathered under the umbrella of democracy and have broken all records of civil dictatorship.

Talking to his workers at the long march, he said that the true democracy of the country’s leaders was revealed after thousands of protesters, including women and children, were not allowed to fetch water.