Pakistan's ruling coalition claims 'progress' over judges' issue (Roundup)

May 1, 2008, 15:19 GMT

Islamabad - Pakistan's ruling coalition on Thursday claimed to have made 'positive progress' in its talks over the restoration of senior judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf late last year.

'The nation will hear good news shortly,' former premier Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) told reporters in Dubai after his meeting with Asif Zardari, who succeeded slain former premier Benazir Bhutto as the chief of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

However, Sharif refused to give further details of the talks, saying he would announce the outcome on Friday in the eastern city of Lahore, a political stronghold of his PML-N party.

More than 60 senior judges, including chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, were sacked by Musharraf under an emergency order on November 3 as the Supreme Court was expected to rule against his re- election for another five-year term.

The PML-N and PPP formed an alliance after routing Musharraf's political supporters in the February 18 parliamentary election and pledged to reinstate the justices by the end of April.

However, the coalition partners hit a deadlock over the mode of the justices' restoration, which the PML-N said needs only a simple resolution by the parliament while the PPP viewed it as a complex issue demanding a constitutional reform package.

The PPP, which won the most seats in the 342-member lower house of Parliament also wants to put limits on Chaudhry's powers and cut down his tenure through the package, a proposal PML-N has opposed.

Sharif rushed to Dubai Monday when the lieutenants of the PML-N reached a dead end in discussions with the PPP team, led by Zardari, who was already in the Gulf state to meet his two daughters.

The stalemate fanned rumours that the month-old alliance is on the verge of falling apart, which would send the country into a political crisis.

But Sharif insisted that the coalition was intact and committed to its pledge on the issue of judiciary.

'We reiterated that the restoration of judges will take place according to the Murree Declaration,' he said, referring to the agreement the sides signed in March that says the re-instatement would occur through parliamentary resolution.

'There is no ambiguity, there is no doubt about it,' Sharif added.

A senior PPP leader and Information Minister Sheri Rehman endorsed Sharif's statement. 'He has been authorized to make an announcement on behalf of the coalition in Lahore. It will be a positive announcement,' she told Dawn news channel.

Some analysts opined that the PPP is hesitating from restoring Chaudhry with full powers since it fears that, once restored, he could annul unconditional amnesty given by Musharraf to politicians, including Zardari who was facing several graft charges.

Chaudhry could also revoke Supreme Court's approval of Musharraf's re-election, further clouding the political future of the embattled president. Once in tight corners, he could dissolve the newly elected parliament.

Sharif's PML-N had threatened to quit the cabinet if any compromise was made on the judges' reinstatement, the main rallying point for the party, whose government was ousted by Musharraf in a bloodless military coup in 1999.