New Pakistani PM Gilani frees detained judges

Islamabad: A loyalist of assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was elected prime minister on Monday and he immediately ordered the release of the judges President Pervez Musharraf detained in November.

The National Assembly elected Yousuf Raza Gilani prime minister five weeks after Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and its allies dealt the main party that backs Musharraf a stunning election defeat.

Islamabad Police lifted a siege around the house of deposed Pakistan chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry yesterday soon after Gilani ordered his release in a showdown soon after taking office.

Many people, including lawyers, scrambled to the judicial enclave in Islamabad where Justice Chaudhry, along with dozens of other judges fired in November by Musharraf, had been living under detention.

Later Justice Chaudhry made his first public appearance in four months.

Reports from Lahore, capital of Punjab province, said police had also removed barricades they had set up around the houses of some deposed judges in the city.

Earlier, legislators cheered as Gilani said, "Today, democracy has been restored thanks to the great sacrifice of Benazir Bhutto. I invite all political forces to join us because the country is facing such a crisis that a single man cannot save it," Gilani said to chants of "Go Musharraf, Go!" and "Long Live Bhutto!"

Minutes after the announcement, the authorities removed barricades from outside the house of former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who has been under house arrest since November.

Chaudhry waved from the balcony of his house in the capital Islamabad.

"I am thankful to the entire nation which has struggled for the last five months for the rule of law," Chaudhry, dressed in a traditional black tunic, told supporters through a loudspeaker.

Political prisoner

"We have to move forward in a decent manner and I will always be seeking your cooperation," he said.

Firebrand laywer and key Chaudhry aide Aitzaz Ahsan said that the chief justice's 10-year-old son, who has also been held in the house since November, was "perhaps the youngest political prisoner in the world."

"Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has taken a very bold step and we thank him," said Ahsan, chairman of the Supreme Court Bar Association, who himself emerged from house arrest last month.

He said that lawyers would hold no protests for the new government's first 30 days in office, by the end of which they have pledged to pass legislation reinstating the deposed judges.

The coalition administration is led by the party of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Asma Jehnagir, leader of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, warmly welcomed Gilani's announcement.

"It is the beginning; restoration of judiciary is a must for democracy in the country and it shall happen," she said.

Justice Chaudhry has all along maintained that he remains chief justice of the country.

Pro-Musharraf PML-Q party and other like-minded segments from the political spectrum have repeatedly cautioned the issue of restoration of judges could trigger confrontation between the parliament and the presidency.

- With inputs from agencies

What next: Cabinet formation

Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, elected prime minister, will take oath of office today in the National Assembly. Gilani will then announce the core members of his cabinet in coming days. However, full cabinet announcement will be in phases as the ministries will be distributed among the Pakistan Peoples Party and its allies.

The next step will be formation of governments in the four provincial assemblies.

- Ashfaq Ahmed, Chief Reporter