Musharraf Opponents to Form Coalition to recall ousted Judges
MIL/NYT, Mar 9, 2008. IR Summary
Bhurban, Pakistan :March 9, 2008 - The opposition in Pakistana which won the elections have signed an agreement here today that they would form a coalition government and their parliament would restore all judges that were ousted by President Pervez Musharraf.
Hundreds of lawyers had gathered and demonstrated in Islamabad demanding reinstatement of the judges who were ousted by President Musharraf. The crowd was so strong that the police had to resort to fire to disperse the agitating lawyers.
The political position of Musharraf has become so much weakened that he shall have no other option but to resign. He had already said that if the ousted judges were restored, he would not stay as President.
Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the man ousted by Musharraf in a coup eight years ago, announced their pact after talks at a hill station in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The two parties won a landslide victory in Feb. 18 elections, trouncing Musharraf's closest allies and raising doubts about the survival of a leading figure in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
After weeks of talks, they announced a breakthrough on two key issues: the makeup of the coalition and the future of the ousted judges.
Sharif said his party would be part of a federal coalition led by Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, which won the most seats in the parliamentary vote.
In return, Zardari agreed that parliament would vote within a month to restore the judges expelled from the Supreme Court and high courts in November to prevent them from ruling his presidency illegal.
Full
| 
