US diplomats believe Zardari will reinstate judges immediately after becoming Prez

Washington, Aug 24 : Diplomats in US believe that PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari would reinstate the deposed judges immediately after donning the mantle of President of Pakistan, election of which will take place on September 6.

But they are not sure if the deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry will also be reinstated. Similarly, it is unclear to them if the powers of the courts will be reviewed before they are restored.

If the presidential election went as planned, Zardari would take oath as president on Sept 8 and "within a day or two" he would restore the judges, The News quoted diplomatic sources as saying in Washington.

The restoration of judiciary would be done under a plan already agreed upon by the ruling coalition, the sources said, and added that details of the plan were yet to be disclosed, but the move for Musharraf's impeachment, which eventually forced him to resign, was part of this plan.

"Once the court is restored, the coalition government will move to grant immunity to Musharraf," said one source familiar with the Pakistan government's plan.

Diplomatic sources in Washington believe that once the immunity is granted, Musharraf may visit the US to meet his son and brother, but so far he insists that he wants to live in Pakistan.

The sources admit that there are differences within the ruling coalition on some of these moves. They explain that some within the alliance may opt to stay out or vote against a particular move when it is put before the parliament.

Explaining this point, the sources said that the PML-N may vote against the proposal to grant indemnity to Musharraf while the MQM may vote against the reinstatement of judges. "Yet this will not break up the coalition. The coalition partners understand that they may not agree hundred per cent on all issues but they want to keep the alliance intact," said one source.

According to these sources, Pakistan's future political map was discussed with the Americans when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani visited Washington late last month. "The prime minister told the Americans that if you want our politics to mature, let us handle our domestic issues through normal political processes and without external interference," said a source and added "And the Americans understood. If Zardari's nomination had happened six months ago, Assistant Secretary of State Richard would have been in Islamabad by now. But, now Americans see this as an internal Pakistani issue."

In recent public meetings in Washington, Ambassador Husain Haqqani has also stressed this point. "Some people in Pakistan say that all important decisions in Pakistan are taken by Allah, America, and the Army, in that order," he said and added "We want to change that paradigm and we are working seriously on it."

ANI