Imran Khan's party quits Parliament

Islamabad: Lawmakers from the party of Pakistani cricketer-turned politician, Imran Khan, have resigned from parliament to pressure the country's prime minister to step down over what they describe as fraud in last year's election.

Khan's Tehrik-e-Insaf party won 34 seats in the 342-member National Assembly, or lower house of parliament, in the 2013 elections that brought premier Nawaz Sharif into power.

Arif Alvi, a lawmaker from Khan's party said Friday he had handed over the resignations to the assembly secretary in Islamabad as the speaker was not present at the time.

Under law, the speaker accepts resignations after assuring that the lawmakers in question did not quit under pressure.

Khan, along with thousands of his supporters, has been demonstrating outside parliament since Tuesday to pressure Sharif's government to step down.