Pak PM says no pressure from Presidency to restore sacked judges

Islamabad, May 20 : Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that there was no pressure from the Presidency to restore the sacked judges, and that the constitutional experts were working towards chalking out a formula for reinstating the sacked judges.

"There is no pressure on the government from the Presidency on the sacked judges' issue. The sacked judges will soon be reinstated.........constitutional experts are working out modalities," the Daily Times quoted Gilani as saying in Egypt.

He rejected the impression that the judges' reinstatement was being delayed because President Pervez Musharraf was not willing to reinstate them. "We will not accept any pressure from anyone," he said, and added that PPP and the PML-N wanted to reinstate the sacked judges.

Gilani said his government could not take any unconstitutional step to undo a mistake. "There is no doubt in my mind and there is no doubt in PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif's mind...and there is no doubt in the mind of any political party...the sacked judges will have to be reinstated," he said.

The Prime Minister did not agree with a questioner that the coalition would collapse as the PML-N had taken a hard position on the judges' issue. "There is no threat to the coalition government as it is broad-based and its objectives are to serve the people...we cannot rock the boat...I give you my commitment that all the sacked judges will be reinstated."

Asked how long the people would have to wait for the judges' reinstatement, he said, "The people of Pakistan are very mature, intelligent and have a lot of patience...they want to give the government time and we will not let them down."

ANI