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13848
Sat, 07/26/2008 - 08:49
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PPP leaders confront Zardari on judges issue
Islamabad, Jul 26 (PTI) Differences have emerged within the ruling Pakistan People's Party (P.P.P.) over reinstating the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, with some sections confronting party chief Asif Ali Zardarifor not acting speedily on the issue.
P.P.P.'s ally Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) had quit the cabinet in May over the government's failure to restore the judges deposed by Musharraf during emergency last year and has now set August 15 deadline, failing which it will withdraw support to the rulingcoalition.
The rift in the P.P.P. came to the fore during a meeting of top leadership from Punjab province here on Thursday, when senior leader Aitzaz Ahsan told Zardari thatthe delay in reinstating the judges could harm the party.
Ahsan, who is also president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and a key player in the influential lawyers' movement, was of the view that economic stability is linked to reinstating the judges who were deposed by Musharraf duringlast year's emergency rule, sources told the Dawn newspaper.
The sources said Ahsan also told P.P.P. Chairman Zardari, who was presiding over the meeting, that "some peopleare giving you wrong advice".
Ahsan said P.P.P. leaders Babar Awan and Farzana Raja were "very ably defending the party's position on the judges'issue but their credibility had been eroding".
Ahsan insistence on the restoration of the deposedjudges has caused a gulf between him and the top P.P.P.
leadership, including Zardari.
Ahsan and other members of the lawyers' movement have said the judges could be reinstated through an executive orderissued by the Prime Minister.
However, Zardari has linked the reinstatement of the judges to a constitutional reforms package that will also strip the Chief Justice of certain powers. The lawyers'movement has opposed this package.
Ahsan's comments on the judges' issue sparked an angry response from Babar Awan, a close aide of Zardari. Awan said he and his colleagues were following the P.P.P.'s policy whichwas dearer to them than credibility.
Awan also alleged that Ahsan had "always given wrongadvice to the party and late chairperson Benazir Bhutto.
Citing examples, he said Ahsan had advised Bhutto not to return to Pakistan from self-exile and not to accept the National Reconciliation Ordinance, which was issued byMusharraf to scrap graft charges against P.P.P. leaders.
Ahsan had also advised the P.P.P. to boycott thegeneral election, Awan pointed out.
Awan alleged that Ahsan had avoided Bhutto when other P.P.P. leaders put their lives in danger by attending herrallies and public meetings, the sources said.
Awan, who is also a lawyer, accused Ahsan of "ridingtwo boats" and advised him to "return to the party".
He said he had nothing personal against deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry but believed that there could be a "confrontation between national institutions afterhis reinstatement".
The meeting took several decisions for reactivating the P.P.P. and pursuing projects aimed at the welfare of thepeople.
It also took stock of the political situation in Punjab, where the P.M.L.(N) is in power. PTI RHL KNO
P.P.P.'s ally Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) had quit the cabinet in May over the government's failure to restore the judges deposed by Musharraf during emergency last year and has now set August 15 deadline, failing which it will withdraw support to the rulingcoalition.
The rift in the P.P.P. came to the fore during a meeting of top leadership from Punjab province here on Thursday, when senior leader Aitzaz Ahsan told Zardari thatthe delay in reinstating the judges could harm the party.
Ahsan, who is also president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and a key player in the influential lawyers' movement, was of the view that economic stability is linked to reinstating the judges who were deposed by Musharraf duringlast year's emergency rule, sources told the Dawn newspaper.
The sources said Ahsan also told P.P.P. Chairman Zardari, who was presiding over the meeting, that "some peopleare giving you wrong advice".
Ahsan said P.P.P. leaders Babar Awan and Farzana Raja were "very ably defending the party's position on the judges'issue but their credibility had been eroding".
Ahsan insistence on the restoration of the deposedjudges has caused a gulf between him and the top P.P.P.
leadership, including Zardari.
Ahsan and other members of the lawyers' movement have said the judges could be reinstated through an executive orderissued by the Prime Minister.
However, Zardari has linked the reinstatement of the judges to a constitutional reforms package that will also strip the Chief Justice of certain powers. The lawyers'movement has opposed this package.
Ahsan's comments on the judges' issue sparked an angry response from Babar Awan, a close aide of Zardari. Awan said he and his colleagues were following the P.P.P.'s policy whichwas dearer to them than credibility.
Awan also alleged that Ahsan had "always given wrongadvice to the party and late chairperson Benazir Bhutto.
Citing examples, he said Ahsan had advised Bhutto not to return to Pakistan from self-exile and not to accept the National Reconciliation Ordinance, which was issued byMusharraf to scrap graft charges against P.P.P. leaders.
Ahsan had also advised the P.P.P. to boycott thegeneral election, Awan pointed out.
Awan alleged that Ahsan had avoided Bhutto when other P.P.P. leaders put their lives in danger by attending herrallies and public meetings, the sources said.
Awan, who is also a lawyer, accused Ahsan of "ridingtwo boats" and advised him to "return to the party".
He said he had nothing personal against deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry but believed that there could be a "confrontation between national institutions afterhis reinstatement".
The meeting took several decisions for reactivating the P.P.P. and pursuing projects aimed at the welfare of thepeople.
It also took stock of the political situation in Punjab, where the P.M.L.(N) is in power. PTI RHL KNO
