Islamabad - Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was set on Monday to decide whether his party will stay in the ruling coalition after failing to break the deadlock over the re-instatement of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf.
The decision would be made in a crucial meeting of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which emerged as the second largest party in February 18 elections after thrashing Musharraf's political allies and formed a coalition government with slain Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
'It is possible that the party may decide to withdraw its minister from the cabinet but continue supporting the coalition partner PPP,' said Siddiqul Farooq, a PML-N spokesman.
The deliberations came a day after Sharif announced his two-day negotiations with Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower who now heads PPP, in London over how to restore the judges remained inconclusive.
'Every Pakistani will be disappointed by this outcome of talks which had continued over the last 90 days,' he told reporters before leaving for Islamabad.
Sharif believes more than 60 judges sacked by Musharraf under emergency order on November 3 as the Supreme Court was set to rule against his controversial re-election for the next presidential term could be restored by a parliamentary resolution followed by an executive order.
On the other hand, Zardari argues this might provoke Musharraf, who has the power to dissolve the parliament, and his handpicked judges in the existing Supreme Court, resulting in a constitutional crisis. Instead, he has proposed that the reinstatement should occur through a constitutional package.
After missing their first cut-off date of April 30 for the judges'reinstatement the two leaders agreed to extend the deadline until May 12, which was also expiring on Monday midnight.
The dissolution of the alliance could lead to a political turmoil in Pakistan, a close ally of Washington-led fight against terrorism in Afghanistan.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher met both Zardari and Sharif in London on Sunday to convince them to keep the coalition intact.
'Mr Nawaz is not in the habit of taking dictation from outsiders, neither is he ignorant of the importance of maintaining close friendly relations with the US,' said his brother Shahbaz Sharif.
'But Pakistan is a sovereign country and he believes in taking all decisions in the country's self interest', he added.
Information Minister and PPP's senior leader Sheri Rehman said despite difference of opinion on the issue of judges, the relationship between the PPP and the PML-N would remain unaffected.
A constitutional package is being prepared by the PPP to take back the removed judges, she said, hoping PML-N would support it in the parliament.
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