Islamabad - Pakistan's law minister Friday said the ruling
coalition was unlikely to meet the new May 12 deadline for the
restoration of judges deposed by President Pervez Musharraf,
bringing the fragile alliance on the verge of collapse.
The two major coalition leaders, Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz
Sharif, agreed last week in Dubai to pass a resolution in parliament
on May 12 demanding the reinstatement of more than 60
judges and constituted a committee to draft the resolution and
devise the method for its implementation.
But Law Minister Farooq Naik said the committee members had 'two
divergent opinions on the method to implement the resolution' and the
matter would now be taken to the two leaders.
'Since all the differences have not yet been resolved so I do not
see the National Assembly session to be convened on May 12,' he told
reporters in Islamabad.
Zardari, who succeeded his slain wife Benazir Bhutto to run
Pakistan People's Party, and Sharif, the former premier and head of
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, formed an alliance after thrashing
political backers of Musharraf in February 18 elections.
They vowed to bring back by the end of April the senior justices,
including the then chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, whom Musharraf
sacked under an emergency order on November 3 just as the Supreme
Court was expected to rule against his controversial re-election for
the his next five-year presidential term.
The coalition partners hit a deadlock in the following weeks over
the issue, with PPP showing reluctance as the restoration of judges
could put Musharraf in a corner, forcing him into head-on
clashes with the governing coalition.
The sacked judges, when restored with full powers, can revoke
Musharraf's victory in the presidential vote, which was approved by
the new Supreme Court that he packed with handpicked judges following
his imposition of emergency rule.
Sharif, on the other hand, is willing to go all out against
the military dictator-turned-politician, who ousted him in a
bloodless coup in 1999.
After the last weeks' Zardari-Sharif meeting in Dubai it appeared
the the sides had settled the issue, however, a fresh round of talks
are scheduled in London on Friday.
'The entire matter now lies with the party heads,' said Naik.
Analysts believe the failure of this round of talks may lead to
the breakdown of the already fragile coalition, throwing the country
into yet another political crisis.
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