Reinstating all

SUDDENLY important leaders of the PPP have started talking about restoring all the deposed judges without exception. What is more they think the task poses no real difficulty. Prime Minister Gilani has called Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry the "imam" or the leader of the judges and said he would be reinstated along with others soon. According to him, compared to the restoration of the judges the removal of General Musharraf was a much more difficult task. Leader of the Senate Raza Rabbani has said the ruling coalition believes in the restoration of all judges without exception and that this could be done through a resolution. Despite the statements not mentioning any timeframe, many would welcome them. It is disturbing however that Attorney General Latif Khosa still maintains that Mr Zardari is opposed to the reinstatement of Justice Iftikhar. Again, one fails to understand why judges are being reinstated in batches after being required to take fresh oath instead of restoring all simultaneously, including Justice Iftikhar, through a resolution followed by an executive order.

Some of the statements also indicate that the coalition does not consider the parting of ways with the PML-N as final. Prime Minister Gilani has paid tributes to the party for playing a major role in the removal of President Musharraf and has said that the PML-N leadership would be approached to reconsider its decision to leave the coalition after the judges had been reinstated. Many have noted the fact that unlike the past the parting of the ways has not this time led to mutual accusations or threats. Both sides have so far shown restraint while putting before the public their version of the facts that led to the split.

There is a danger however of the gulf between the PPP and PML-N becoming unbridgeable in case the issue of the deposed judges is not urgently resolved. With the lawyers movement gaining momentum, it would be difficult for Mian Nawaz Sharif to keep sitting on the fence. Once the PML-N has decided to join the movement, the confrontation will increase. The next logical step for the party would be to rejoin the APDM. This would strengthen the hotheaded elements within the PPP and the PML-N. While the PPP continues to assure that it would not destabilise the PML-N led government in Punjab, elements in the PPP keen to gain control of Punjab may use the confrontation to justify joining hands with the PML-Q to form a new ruling coalition led by the PPP. To ensure that things do not go out of hand it is important to urgently go ahead with the restoration of the judges.