PML-Q hints at joining hands with PPP

Islamabad: The Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) may join hands with the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) if the present ruling coalition breaks up, a key leader of the former ruling party said yesterday.

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, PML-Q president in Punjab province and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, told a private television channel the party was considering the option as the PPP-led coalition was internally fractured.

Elahi, former Punjab chief minister, said he along with his cousin and PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had discussed the possibility of an alliance between PML-Q and PPP with President Pervez Musharraf.

The coalition is beset by the divergence between its two major parties over the issue of the restoration of the dozens of judges sacked by Musharraf last year when as army chief he put the country under emergency rule for about four weeks.

The PML-N, which withdrew its ministers from the federal cabinet in May because of non-reinstatement of the judges, is pressing the PPP to resolve the judicial crisis without further delay.

On the other hand the lawyer community has given August 14 as a deadline for the reinstatement of the judges, threatening to paralyse the courts and stage another long march if their demand is ignored.

Deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is on the move once again to shore up the lawyers' movement. He addressed lawyers in Multan on Friday, stressing that an independent judiciary was vital for the progress and survival of the country. Justice Chaudhy was also due to address lawyers late yesterday in Bahawalpur in Punjab province.

According to PML-N sources a decisive meeting on the judicial row was likely between PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif in the first week of August.

The PML-N continues to insist on restoration of the judges through a National Assembly resolution coupled with an executive order as pledged in a joint declaration by Zardari and Sharif in March.

The PPP leadership, deviating from the mutually agreed modality, has proposed to restore the judges as part of a package of amendments to the constitution, which it plans to bring before the parliament.

The party has set no date for presenting the proposed package to the parliament, as it awaits response on it from the coalition partners, mainly the PML-N.

Law minister Farooq Naek told the media yesterday response from the allies on the package that had already been conveyed to them was still awaited.

PML-N leaders have repeatedly made it clear that they would never accept linkage between the judges' reinstatement and the proposed constitutional package.

Analysts say the month of August would be crucial for the coalition and its survival would depend on the outcome of the expected Zardari-Sharif summit.