Pakistan parties united for upholding democracy: Sharif

New York, Sep 26: Pakistani Prime Minister

during his visit to New York to attend the 69th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) said that all political parties in his country were united for upholding democracy.

Sharif made the announcement Thursday while addressing a Pakistani community in New York after meeting UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon and other foreign leaders at the UN General Assembly, Dawn online reported Friday.

Sharif said that those staging sit-ins against his government had made ambitious plans, but the nation did not support them.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek have been staging anti-government protests since Aug 15 and holding a large sit-in in Islamabad, seeking Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation over alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections.

He said the government is fully functional despite the protests while those opposing it had failed.

Sharif said: "The attacks launched on the Parliament House and the Pakistan Television (PTV) network headquarters were hardly similar to any of the attacks found in the country's history."

He said his party participated in the 2013 general elections as an opposition party and rigging allegations against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were baseless.

The prime minister also said that the previous caretaker government was nominated by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), but his party won a landslide victory in the elections.

Sharif is expected to deliver his address at the UNGA Friday.

IANS