Pakistan's Sharif Says Deposed Judges to be Reinstated May 12
By VOA News
02 May 2008
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says judges dismissed during a state of emergency last year will be reinstated through a parliamentary resolution on May 12.
Mr. Sharif made the remarks Friday during a news conference in the eastern city of Lahore.
Leaders of Pakistan's coalition government held negotiations on Thursday in Dubai, where they agreed upon a way to reinstate about 60 high court judges fired by President Pervez Musharraf in 2007.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, led by Mr. Sharif, and the Pakistan Peoples' Party, led by Asif Ali Zardari, missed the April 30 deadline they had set to restore the judges to the bench.
Mr. Sharif threatened to pull out of the coalition if the two sides did not reach an agreement on the subject.
Zardari had insisted on linking their reinstatement to constitutional reforms, but Mr. Sharif rejected that request.
Mr. Sharif called for the judiciary to be restored unconditionally to what it was before last year's six-week state of emergency.
The proposed constitutional reforms would limit the power of top judges and could strip President Musharraf of his powers to dismiss the government.
The president dismissed the judges last year, after they questioned the legitimacy of his re-election while he was still army chief.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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