Pakistan's winning parties urged to restore deposed judges (Roundup)

Feb 22, 2008, 13:39 GMT

Islamabad - The incoming ruling party of slain Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto vowed Friday to strip embattled President Pervez Musharraf of his power to dissolve parliament and dismiss the elected government.

The decision, taken in a meeting of senior officials from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which won national elections held Monday, is the first of many expected steps by the opposition to strip Musharraf of powers he gained after taking the country over in a military coup in 1999.

'The participants expressed views on the prevailing situation in the country and vowed to work for the restoration of parliamentary supremacy by undoing undemocratic provisions under which elected Parliaments have been dismissed,' a statement released by the PPP said.

Currently, Pakistan's constitute gives Musharraf the power to dissolve parliament, which some suspect he might do if the incoming government and lawmakers attempt to reinstate judges the president fired in November 2007 as they were about to overturn his controversial re-election the previous month.

The PPP's incoming coalition partner, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, is demanding dozens of sacked Supreme Court and High Court judges be reinstated so they can rule on the legality of Musharraf's re-election and imposition of emergency rule, during which he jailed political opponents and suspended the constitution to ensure his survival.

If the new parliament does reinstate the judges, it could mark the beginning of a showdown with Musharraf, a key US ally in fighting resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda militants along Pakistan's western border with Afghanistan.

The president's political backer, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, finished a distant third in the elections, leaving Musharraf politically weakened and powerless to sway events in the new parliament.

The removal of the judges triggered nationwide protests and boycotts by lawyers' groups, sending Musharraf's popularity plummeting. Monday's polls were seen as a referendum on his rule, and he suffered a humiliating rebuke.

The US-based Human Rights Watch said Friday that the government should immediately reinstate the dismissed judges.

Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower and PPP co-chairman, and Sharif agreed Thursday to form a coalition government after parliament convenes. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz finished second in the polls.

In a letter to both leaders, Human Right Watched urged them to release at least a dozen judges and lawyers who have been under detention or house arrest since Musharraf imposed emergency measures.

They should 'make commitments in any new government they form to immediately release from detention all lawyers and judges arrested or detained for peaceful political protest or opposition to the previous government,' a statement from the organization said.

Iftikhar Chaudhry, the sacked Supreme Court chief justice and a bitter political rival of Musharraf, remains under house arrest at his Islamabad residence.

The new government should also remove all curbs on the electronic and print media imposed through presidential decrees and rescind legal and constitutional measures that Musharraf put in place during the state of emergency, Human Rights Watch said.

Zardari and Sharif agreed on Thursday to work in parliament to restore the judges to their jobs, but Musharraf said earlier in the week that it would be impossible to do so.

Human Rights Watch also chastised the US and British governments, Musharraf's chief foreign backers, for their silence on the issue.

'The refusal of the United States and the United Kingdom to press Musharraf to restore the judiciary is shameful,' Brad Adams, Asia director of the group, said.

'Now is the test: will they continue to support Musharraf at all costs, or will they support the rule of law?' he said.