Mush impeachment issue still on deadlock

Islamabad, Aug 7: Musharraf is one shrewd player.... Hours before his impeachment news comes trickling in, Mush reappoints 8 deposed judges of the Sindh High Court.

The day long political drama appeared to be turning into a farce opn Wednesday, Aug 6 when the presidency deliberately leaked the news that a summary to reappoint the judges had been sent to the president by the Law Ministry and a notification was being issued. Annoyed over the new development, Pakistan Muslim League-N leaders said they felt betrayed. Party chief Nawaz Sharif left the meeting with his fellow leader in coalition Pakistan People's Party chief Asif Zardari in the middle at a crucial time when a decision on modalities about impeaching the president was being finalised, a source witnessed.

It took PPP leaders more than four hours to bring Sharif back to the negotiating table. The fate of the negotiations remained uncertain till well past midnight. The venue of the talks was first shifted from Zardari House to Punjab House and later to the Prime Minister's House.

Mr Zardari and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is also Nawaz Sharif's younger brother, held talks at the Prime Minister's House with their close aides and no breakthrough was in sight.

Meanwhile, a PPP minister, who is a part of the negotiating team, told Dawn newspaper that the notification about SHC judges would be held in abeyance till reinstatement of all the judges.

In a late-night interview with private TV channels, PML-N's secretary information Ahsan Iqbal said progress had been made and a joint statement to be issued today will give 'good news' to the nation.

On the other hand, the presidency in Rawalpindi remained active with President Musharraf meeting loyalists, political friends and legal aides to finalise the plan to deal with the impeachment move, hours after he rescheduled his visit to China.

Musharraf had earlier cancelled the visit amid reports that the coalition was discussing his impeachment.

The leadership of the PPP and the PML-N after their six-hour talks on Tuesday, Aug 5 had agreed to formally ask President Musharraf to step down or face impeachment and announced that they would meet again on Wednesday, Aug 6 after consultations with smaller coalition partners to give the final shape to their plan.

UNI