Pak ruling coalition on collision course

PPP rejects PML(N)’s August 25 deadline to restore sacked judges

Pakistan’s ruling coalition parties headed for a showdown today with PPP rejecting PML(N)’s August 25 deadline to restore sacked judges and the ally apparently unenthusiastic about supporting Asif Ali Zardari for presidency.

Amid deepening differences in the five-month fragile coalition, PPP chairman Zardari said his understanding with Nawaz Sharif’s party on reinstating the judges deposed by ex-President Pervez Musharraf during emergency rule last year was not “sacrosanct” and could be modified to suit the evolving political scenario.

Former premier Nawaz Sharif, the chief of PML(N) who has set a Monday deadline for the sacked judges’ restoration, is reluctant to commit his party’s support for Zardari’s candidature for presidency unless the post is stripped of sweeping powers to dissolve Parliament and dismiss the prime minister.

“If they are taking steps unilaterally then what can we do. It looks like the PPP wants to break ties with us,” PML(N) spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said.

Another spokesman Siddiqul Farooq said the issue of whether Zardari would stand for the presidency was the PPP's “own decision” and not that of the coalition partners. “We do not want a civilian president with the same powers that Musharraf had, mainly the power to dissolve parliament,” Farooq said.

“Our top priority is restoration of the judges and we want it done on Monday,” Farooq insisted, adding that the PML(N) would meet here tomorrow to discuss the latest developments.

Understandings between political parties cannot be "termed as agreements" and agreements and declarations between the PPP and PML(N) on restoring the judges are not holy scriptures that cannot be “altered or modified” to suit political developments, Zardari told BBC Urdu in an interview.

Zardari refused to set a timeframe for restoring the judges. In apparent reservations over restoration of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry, Zardari said the former top judge has become "too politicised."