The Newshour Debate: Cleric marches, Islamabad trembles (Part 1 of 4)

Influential cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri's campaign for electoral reforms on Tuesday (January 15) flared into an open confrontation with the Pakistan government as he called for the dissolution of the national and provincialassemblies by 11 am. Addressing a gathering of tens of thousands of his followers at Jinnah Avenue in the heart of Islamabad, Qadri claimed President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and the federal ministers could no longer hold office. "End your government. I give you time till the morning to dissolve the National Assembly and provincial assemblies, otherwise people will make the decisions tomorrow," Qadri thundered to loud cheers from his supporters. "Your mandate has ended, the fake mandate you obtained through wealth, rigging and fake votes. The people who gave you a mandate through the vote have taken back their mandate as a protest.

In a debate moderated by TIMES NOW's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, panelists -- Major General ( Retd) Rashid Qureshi, Former Spokesperson to Musharraf; Ahmed Raza Kasuri, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court, Pakistan; Dr Farid Ahmed Malik, Leader, PTI; K C Singh, Former Secy, MEA; Retd Colonel Anil Kaul, Vr C and Sheshadri Chari, Convenor, Foreign Affairs Cell, BJP -- discuss whether if the Pakistan Govt collapses and Army takes over an interim administration, whats the impact on India.