Pakistan today banned all public gatherings in Islamabad for two months, setting the stage for confrontation ahead of a major protest aimed at paralysing the capital and unseating Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Mr.Sharif is under growing pressure from opposition parties over his children’s offshore bank accounts that were revealed in the Panama Papers leak.

Former cricketer turned opposition leader Imran Khan, who is due to lead the protest on November 2, has demanded Sharif step down over the revelations. The planned protest comes at a sensitive time for Sharif, with Pakistan’s Supreme Court due to start hearing a case into the Panama Papers revelations about Sharif’s family involvement on November 1.