Singapore: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has threatened to pull his party out the country's ruling coalition if deadlock over the restoration of judges continues, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The coalition have been unable to agree over the fate of the judges removed by former president Pervez Musharraf, who resigned his post on Monday in light of impeachment charges against him.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Sharif had threatened to quit the coalition if the decision to reinstate the judges was not made by Friday.
Sharif told the newspaper that the sacking of the judges last year had shaken the foundations of the country and it was necessary to restore them to their jobs.
"We will not try to bring the government down," Sharif said. "But of course we then have no choice but to sit in the opposition."
Asif Ali Zardari's PPP, the majority party in the coalition, has so far wavered over restoring the judges.
Sharif said Zardari had assured him that the judges would be reinstated within 24 hours of Musharraf's impeachment. "We supported him on impeachment. It's now his turn to support us on the reinstatement of judges."
