JURIST - Paper Chase: Pakistan leaders fail to agree on resolution restoring ousted judges as new deadline looms

[JURIST] Talks between the leaders of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) [party websites] in London Friday failed to produce an agreement on a draft resolution for reinstating judges ousted by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last year, but party members pledged to continue negotiations. A panel convened last week pursuant to an initial deal struck by the leaders in Dubai completed a draft parliamentary resolution [JURIST report] to restore the judges, but disagreements on implementation among panel members meant that the resolution had to go the top leadership of the PPP and the PML-N for approval before being submitted to the Pakistani parliament.

On Monday, retired Justice Fakhruddin Ibrahim quit the drafting panel [JURIST report], citing the "non-serious attitude" of fellow panel members and "unconstitutional" efforts by the PPP to retain judges who had endorsed Musharraf's declaration of emergency [JURIST report] last year. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif initially said that the judges would be restored May 12 [JURIST report], but Pakistani Law Minister Farooq Naek said Friday that the governing coalition will be unlikely to meet that deadline. JURIST's Pakistan correspondent says that if the deadline passes without agreement Sharif is likely to step out of the coalition cabinet. The Pakistan Newspaper has more. UPI has additional coverage.

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