Judges must be restored by Monday: Sharif

Lahore, Aug.23 : Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif has given the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) a deadline till Monday for the restoration of the judges.

Addressing a press conference at his Raiwind estate after a meeting with PPP delegation here, Sharif said that he told the delegation that judges should be restored by Monday.

Sharif said that his party and he himself is not a candidate for presidential poll despite having the right of it.

He also said that a free judiciary is mandatory for the sake of country and the next generation. If we would not support constitution and law, coming generations would not forgive us.

Sharif said Zardari had earlier assured him that the judges would be reinstated within 24 hours of Musharraf's impeachment.

Sharif has reportedly put a condition of restoration of "all deposed judges", including the deposed chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry, before considering his party's support to PPP Co-chairman and presidential candidate Asif Ali Zardari.

It is learnt that he told a PPP delegation who had come to seek his support for Zardari, that the PPP Co-chairman should first fulfill his promise of restoring all sacked Supreme Court judges, including the former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, reported The News.

The PPP delegation that met Sharif comprised of leader of the house Raza Rabbani, Federal Minister Sherry Rehman, Syed Khurshid Shah and Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah.

Sources said that delegation had briefed Sharif about the decisions taken in the meeting of PPP central executive committee regarding issues of presidential election and restoration of deposed judges through parliament.

While Sharif has been repeatedly demanding reinstatement of all Supreme Court judges, including deposed CJ, Zardari is learnt to be sticking to his "Minus One" formula which means reinstatement of all judges except Ifikhar Chaudhry.

Two days ago it was reported that Sharif and his party would wait till Wednesday for the sacked judges to be restored.

Denying the the PML-N-PPP coalition was breaking up, Sharif had said then that there was a written deal with Asif Zardari that judges would be restored within 24 hours after Musharraf's resignation, but this had failed to take place.

In a meeting with Asfandyar Wali and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, he said that it has been decided that a resolution would be drafted for restoration of judges and to declare November 3 measures void.

The resolution would be presented in National Assembly on Monday and it would be approved on Wednesday after debate on Tuesday.

ANI