Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday said there was no pressure on the coalition government for the reinstatement of deposed judges and as soon as the modalities were worked out they would be restored.
"There is no doubt in my mind. There is no doubt in Nawaz Sharif's mind and there is no doubt in the mind of any political party that these deposed judges will have to be reinstated at the earliest," he said.
Addressing a news conference in Sharm El Sheikh on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East he said there was no threat to the coalition government as it was broad-based and its objectives were to serve the masses. He said experts were working on the modalities and soon will be able to come up with recommendations. He said a mistake has been committed and it cannot be repeated.
"We cannot rock the boat," he said and added "I want to give this commitment at this international forum that all the deposed judges will be restored." When asked as to what were the modalities the Prime Minister said "there is a sitting chief justice and there is another chief justice who is to be restored and naturally we have to have one chief justice and this is being worked out by the constitutional experts."
The Prime Minister said he has not accepted the resignations tendered by the PML-N Ministers, as they would hopefully be rejoining the cabinet very soon after the re-instatement of the judges. Asked how long the people would wait for the restoration of the judges, he said people of Pakistan are very mature, intelligent and have lot of patience. "They want to give the government time and we will not let them down."
To a question, he said he informed President Bush that a decision has been taken to follow a three pronged strategy to deal with the menace of terrorism and extremism. The strategy includes political dialogue with those people who are not militants or who decommission themselves and co-operate with the government in combating terrorism.
The government also wanted to launch development activities in Fata to improve the living standard of the people, improve communications, create jobs and business opportunities. And finally the force is there to deal with the matter, he added.
The Prime Minister said this strategy was acceptable to the United States and they have appreciated our efforts. He emphasised that Pakistan was facing the brunt of war on terror.
"There are over three million Afghan refugees on our soil and the global food security threat is hurting us too. We are not only catering to our own needs but also of Afghanistan and wheat is being smuggled into Central Asian Republics," he added.
To another question he said, "we are extending US 300 million dollars assistance for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Pakistan wants stability in Afghanistan. He said we have to find out the root causes of terrorism. About the Pakistan-India talks, he said Pakistan wants to maintain excellent relations with India. He said Pakistan expects good from India and wants to have very good relations with it.
He said the core issues have to be addressed including Kashmir as its people want the right of self-determination. About cooperation between the Muslim countries, the Prime Minister said during his meetings with Muslim leaders in Sharm El Sheikh, they had good discussions and wanted to share experiences in science and technology, IT, agriculture, defence and intelligence sharing.