Zardari's kitchen cabinet' preventing him from restoring deposed judges

Islamabad, Aug.30 : Pakistan People's Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari is reportedly under the influence of a small group of close advisers, and they are preventing him from restoring Justice Iftikhar's judiciary, party sources told The News.

According to the paper, the group has now adopted a novel strategy to get rid of unwanted judges.

A top PPP leader said Prime Minister Gilani and all sincere senior leaders are acting as obstacles to Law Minister Farooq Naek's bid to reappoint the deposed judges.

Naek is of the view that the PCO judges in the Supreme Court would have to go back to their respective high courts in order to get back to the November 3, 2007 situation in accordance with the Murree Declaration.

A senior PPP leader told The News it was a wrong perception that Zardari still had fears the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) would be abolished once the deposed judges got restored.

"It will take a maximum of two months for Zardari and others to get acquitted from all the cases and that too through a legal process," senior PPP leaders said.

"I believe some close aides of Zardari have made the restoration of Justice Iftikhar an issue out of personal ego and consistently urge him (Asif Zardari) not to restore him," one of them said.

The senior leader maintained this group wanted to get rid of all the honourable and upright deposed judges in their bid to avoid any future accountability.

Another senior PPP leader, however, denied that the intensifying rift in the PPP could have an effect on the presidential election. He said despite many differences, all party legislators would vote for the party's nominated candidate.

ANI