Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif has given a final deadline to Pakistan People's Party (PPP) for the restoration of judiciary as on November 2, 2007 position by Monday (August 25), failing which the PML-N's departure from coalition set-up is now certain.
He was addressing a news conference at his Raiwind residence after a meeting with the PPP delegation, comprising Leader of the House in the Senate Raza Rabbani, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Federal Ministers Sherry Rehman and Syed Khurshid Shah, on Saturday.
Both Nawaz Sharif and PPP leaders addressed news conferences separately at Raiwind, showing clear signs of differences among the two major coalition partners on some "thorny issues." Nawaz Sharif, who was accompanied by Senator Ishaq Dar and Ahsan Iqbal, said that he had given time till Saturday night to the PPP leadership to intimate the PML-N about its decision as to whether the judges would be restored by Monday.
He said that he told the PPP delegation that judges should be restored by Monday (August 25) through a notification after adoption of a resolution in the National Assembly.
He added that passing of a resolution from National Assembly hardly took 10 minutes. Debate could be held for four hours, but the resolution should be passed the same day and judges must be restored the same day through a notification, he added. He said the PML-N would evolve its future line of action after the response from the PPP regarding restoration of judges.
It may be mentioned that on Friday Nawaz, after consultations with Asfandyar Wali and Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, said that a consensus had reached to reinstate the judges by initiating a debate on the restoration of the deposed judges on Monday and passing the necessary resolution by Wednesday.
However, the PML-N Quaid on Saturday restricted the deadline till Monday (August 25), which is last date for filing papers for the presidential election. Nawaz further said that independent judiciary was a must for the sake of the country and next generation. "If we would not support the Constitution and law, coming generations would never forgive us", he said.
He added that only an independent judiciary could stop the way of an adventurer. "We had entered into coalition on the promise of restoration of judges in accordance with the Murree Declaration," he said.
He also mentioned that agreements and promises, made by the PPP during talks at London and Dubai. He complained of broken promises, and said that judges should have been restored within 24 hours after departure of Pervez Musharraf under the agreement reached and signed between him and Asif Zardari on August 7.
He added that Asif Zardari had earlier assured him that the judges would be reinstated within 24 hours of Musharraf's impeachment. The PPP leaders also briefed Nawaz Sharif about the decisions taken in the meeting of PPP Central Executive Committee on issues of presidential election and restoration of deposed judges through parliament.
Nawaz told the PPP delegation that Asif Ali Zardari should fulfil his promises of restoration of judges first, which he made several times, the sources claimed. "I have asked them to let us know by tonight if they are ready to reinstate judges on Monday or not", Nawaz said. The PPP delegation in its three-hour meeting with the PML-N leadership discussed political issues and other important matters.
Senator Raza Rabbani told reporters after the meeting that problems were heading towards resolution slowly. A five-member committee has been formed for preparation of draft resolution, which is meeting in Islamabad on Sunday. He said: "We conveyed the PML-N leadership about the decisions taken by the PPP executive committee meeting on Friday."
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