Ruling allies at odds as House goes into recess

Islamabad: The National Assembly went into indefinite recess on Friday, a clear indication that the two major parties in the ruling coalition have been unable to agree on a draft parliamentary resolution for the promised reinstatement of judges deposed by President Pervez Musharraf when he imposed a state of emergency in November last year.

Speaker Fehmida Mirza prorogued the lower house of parliament even as a committee comprising senior leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) continued deliberations to finalise a draft resolution.

Parliamentary officials said convening a new session would not be difficult.

PML-N lawmaker Ayaz Mir told reporters the sine die adjournment of the house was a sign that the April 30 deadline for the reinstatement of the judges "has slipped from our hands".

Legal complexities

Law Minister Farooq H. Naek, who is heading the committee, told reporters some "legal and constitutional complexities" were being discussed and that results of deliberations would emerge "very soon".

Naek, who belongs to the PPP, expressed confidence that the outcome of the committee's deliberations would be "satisfactory and acceptable to all".

The minister, however, would not say when the committee's task would be completed.

"Do not go by speculation," Naek said when asked about reports that the talks had been bogged down by differences over a constitutional package the PPP had proposed to facilitate judicial reforms.

Constitutional package

The package reportedly includes a provision to reduce the tenure of Supreme Court judges, a move that would force deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry into early retirement were he to be reinstated.

"The democratic government is under no pressure. We want to do everything according to the law," Naek said.

Senior PML-N figure Javed Hashmi, meanwhile, asserted that the party stood by its stand to have the judges reinstated in accordance with the March 9 accord between PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif. "We will not accept any conditions," Hashmi said.

Agitations threatened

The leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Qazi Hussain, whose party boycotted the February general elections in league with the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) platform, threatened to launch a protest movement if the judges were not restored.

Leaders of the lawyer community have repeatedly warned they would have no option but to resort to civil action if the sacked judges are not restored by the April 30 deadline.