Pakistani parties set to miss deadline on judges
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A deadline for Pakistan's coalition partners to reinstate judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf was expected to pass on Monday, rekindling speculation the government might collapse.
The restoration of the judges has monopolized the attention of the main coalition partners, the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and that of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, since they won a February 18 election.
Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower and her political successor, held talks with Sharif in London on Saturday to try to bridge their differences over the issue.
Richard Boucher, U.S. assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, met the two leaders in London on Sunday although a U.S. embassy spokeswoman said reports the meeting concerned the judges were unfounded.
The reinstatement of the judges Musharraf dismissed after imposing six weeks of emergency rule in November could bring about the fall of the president, a major ally in the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism.
The failure of the coalition partners to agree on restoring the judges could lead to the collapse of their government.
"It looks now it will be missed," Minister of Education Ahsan Iqbal, who is a top official of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) party, said on Sunday of the Monday deadline.
"If the deadline is not met then the PML-N will be forced to review its decision to stay in the cabinet," he said.
Sharif was due to return to Pakistan on Monday and party leaders would met later in the day, he said.
PRESSING PROBLEMS
Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf ousted in 1999, wants the judges reinstated unconditionally and Musharraf out.
Zardari is wary of confronting Musharraf, who still has the power to dismiss the government, and triggering instability that would likely undermine Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party.
Zardari favors linking the reinstatement of the judges to a constitutional package that would curb the president's powers by removing his right to dismiss the government.
It also wants to sideline Iftikhar Chaudhry, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court, who became a cause celebre after he defied pressure from Musharraf to resign in March last year.
Analysts say Zardari is reluctant to reinstate Chaudhry because he accepted challenges to an amnesty Musharraf granted Bhutto and Zardari, along with several other politicians, in corruption cases last October.
Zardari and Sharif signed a pact in March to reinstate the judges by April 30 but later extended the deadline to May 12.
Critics say the controversy has diverted government attention from problems such as surging inflation, a slumping currency and stocks and the fight against Islamist militancy.
The rupee lost 3.5 percent against the dollar on Friday, under pressure from a rising oil import bill and fears that the country was mired in political and economic instability.
Western allies fear nuclear-armed Pakistan sliding back into instability after a generally smooth February election raised hopes after the trauma of Bhutto's assassination on December 27.
Bhutto's party won the most seats in the election with Sharif's party coming second. Analysts say Sharif has his eye on the next election when he would hope to lead his party to victory and return to power as prime minister.
(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Giles Elgood)
