Pakistan coalition in fresh talks on judges
The leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition are to meet on Tuesday to try to hammer out differences over the reinstatement of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, a party official said.
By Agencies |
ISLAMABAD: The leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition are to meet on Tuesday to try to hammer out differences over the reinstatement of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, a party official said.
Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, met fellow coalition leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad on Monday, but they failed to agree on details, officials said.
Musharraf deposed the country's chief justice and dozens of other judges under a state of emergency in November, when it appeared the Supreme Court was about to overturn his re-election as president the month before.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party won the most seats in February elections and pledged to restore the chief justice and other judges.
"There is a slight difference of opinion on modalities for the restoration of judges between the two parties, which will be sorted out," Sharif party spokesman Siddiqul Farooq told the media.
"The two coalition partners are positive in their approach and sincere in the resolve to sort out their differences of opinion in today's (Tuesday's) meeting in Islamabad," he added.
"The assembly session, which is to adjourn for an indefinite period on April 25, can also be extended for a couple of days for tabling and adoption of the resolution, if need be," Farooq said.
The coalition was "bound to restore the judges to their pre-November positions and strengthen the judciary" under a pact signed by Sharif and Zardari at the mountain resort of Bhurban on March 9.
"None of the two signatories can afford to deviate from the declaration," Farooq said. The PPP was not immediately available for comment. New prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a key aide of Bhutto, freed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges from house arrest last month.
Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, met fellow coalition leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad on Monday, but they failed to agree on details, officials said.
Musharraf deposed the country's chief justice and dozens of other judges under a state of emergency in November, when it appeared the Supreme Court was about to overturn his re-election as president the month before.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party won the most seats in February elections and pledged to restore the chief justice and other judges.
"There is a slight difference of opinion on modalities for the restoration of judges between the two parties, which will be sorted out," Sharif party spokesman Siddiqul Farooq told the media.
"The two coalition partners are positive in their approach and sincere in the resolve to sort out their differences of opinion in today's (Tuesday's) meeting in Islamabad," he added.
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The ruling coalition has already indicated that it is likely to reinstate the judges by the end of the month by tabling a resolution in the lower house of parliament, or national assembly. "The assembly session, which is to adjourn for an indefinite period on April 25, can also be extended for a couple of days for tabling and adoption of the resolution, if need be," Farooq said.
The coalition was "bound to restore the judges to their pre-November positions and strengthen the judciary" under a pact signed by Sharif and Zardari at the mountain resort of Bhurban on March 9.
"None of the two signatories can afford to deviate from the declaration," Farooq said. The PPP was not immediately available for comment. New prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a key aide of Bhutto, freed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges from house arrest last month.
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