Judges will be reinstated soon: Zardari

Islamabad, Apr 29 : PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said that restoration of issue was not a simple matter since it involved both law point and constitution, and that the process would take two more weeks. He also said that restoration of the deposed judges within the 30-day deadline was a "political proposition" and not a Hadith (that what should be adhered to strictly).

The April 30th deadline for restoration of judges suspended by President Pervez Musharraf expires tomorrow. A comprehensive package would be tabled in parliament along with a resolution and an executive order, the Daily Times quoted Zardari as saying in an interview with Geo TV. In an apparent bid to distance his party from the judges restoration issue, he said that the judges' restoration was not the PPP's mandate and that people had voted for the party because of its slogan, 'food, clothing and shelter'. But, he added, he wanted to honour Nawaz's pledge that the sacked judges would be restored.

Zardari said he wanted the institution of judiciary to be independent, and the reforms package his party had put together aimed at strengthening the judiciary. The constitutional package would ensure the incumbent judges worked together with the sacked ones, he added.

Meanwhile, in what appeared to be softening of his stance regarding the issue of restoration of judges, PML-N leader and former premier Nawaz Sharif said last evening that he could extend the deadline for the restoration of sacked judges to three or four days if the ruling alliance 'forced' him to do so.

Till recently, Nawaz's party the PML-N insisted on restoration of judges by April 30th. A section of the party's leadership even talked about withdrawing the support to the PPP-led coalition federal government.

ANI