The PPP-PML-N ministerial committee failed to sort out the snags relating to the resolution likely to be tabled in the National Assembly for restoring the deposed judges here on Thursday.
The coalition government was set to bring a resolution in the National Assembly but a consensus could not be reached on the issue. The committee members held a meeting in the chamber of Federal Minister for Law Farooq H Naek for two hours but failed to break the deadlock.
Naek, however, denied any delay in the reinstatement of the judges. The meeting of the committee was expected to be held again late at night on Thursday but it was deferred till Friday. The sources said the National Assembly session, which was to be prorogued today (Friday), was also likely to be extended so that the resolution might be adopted in the ongoing session.
“The entire exercise of the judges’ restoration will be carried out in a way to ensure a positive outcome from the same,” the minister, who is also heading the coalition committee, said. Naek said that no “minus one” formula was under consideration, as all the judges, including deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, would be reinstated.
Senior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan later told newsmen that they had resolved half of the issues while the remaining issues would also be resolved by the coalition committee. He said they were committed to restoring the judiciary in accordance to the Murree Declaration.
The meeting was also attended by other members of the committee including Federal Ministers Khawaja Asif, Ishaq Dar and Sherry Rehman, Senator Raza Rabbani and Rehman Malik.
Chaudhry Nisar briefed the PML-N Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on the progress on the issue on telephone. Leader of the House in the Senate Raza Rabbani also talked to PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on telephone. The sources said the members of the committee were working on a middle path with regard to the constitutional package and the retirement age of the judges.