Pakistani opposition to hold national conference on judges

Islamabad, May 20 (UNI) Pakistan's leading opposition parties will host a national conference here on June 1 to devise the future strategy for the restoration of the judiciary.

The conference will be organised by All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) mainly comprising Jamat-e-Islami and other leading nationalist parties, which boycotted the February 18 elections.

APDM central leader Liaquat Baloch chaired a meeting of the APDM steering committee yesterday to finalise the programme of the conference.

Talking to madiapersons after the meeting, Mr Baloch said all the political parties, lawyers, representatives of the civil society, traders, students and people from all walks of life would be invited to participate in the conference, which is to be held nine days ahead of the long march announced by the Pakistan Bar Coucil for the restoration of judges.

Mr Baloch said the APDM fully supported the agenda of the lawyers and would participate in protest rallies and other programmes to be organised by the lawyers' community on the issue of judges' reinstatement.

He said the PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari was following his own agenda and was not willing to reinstate the deposed judges.

Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), which formed their government in March following an agreement on the reinstatement of judges through a parliamentary resolution, failed to devise a mechanism and developed differences on the issue.

Even a series of summit meetings between PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari and PML (N) chief Nawaz Sharif failed to break the impasse, which forced the league to pull itself out of the six-week-old coalition government.

UNI XC PD RK1201