Pakistan: 'Zardari was given a 24-hour deadline'

Pakistan Army Chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani had reportedly given a 24-hour deadline to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to convince President Zardari to accept the new political deal backed by Washington and London. If Zardari had not accepted the new deal, then the Army and the foreign powers would have been left with no option but to implement the 'minus-one formula' which will include Zardari's removal from the presidency. Other consequences would have seen Gilani taking over and power being restored to the PM office, Nawaz Sharif joining the cabinet and deposed SC chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhary getting reinstated, a Times Now report said. Gilani convinced Zardari to accept the new political and constitutional arrangement and remove Punjab Governor Salman Taseer before the lawyer's Long March reaches Islamabad. On March 11, Kayani met PM Gilani in Islamabad, where in the 90-minute meeting the former essentially told the latter to set the deal in motion. Since then, there have been a series of meetings that have shaped the deal. Gilani ultimately emerged as a subtle winner. He not only stood up to the president, but handled the crisis well. With his pragmatism and closeness to the Army Chief, he has emerged as the civilian leader with more control and greater political skill than his boss, President Zardari. "The Pakistan government has decided to reinstate the judges, including Iftikhar Chaudhary. The decision was taken in consultation with President Zardari," Gilani said in an address to the nation early Monday while announcing the government decision to restore the judges. He also said that prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been lifted. As the nation celebrated, Gilani said, "We will ask court to lift charges against the Sharif brothers and I invite Nawaz Sharif to work together on charter of democracy." He also said that all the lawyers and activists who were arrested will be released and the CJ will take over on March 21. The crisis has established General Kayani as the power behind the civilian government. He backed Gilani and it was his repeated interventions and meetings with the civilian leadership that helped defuse the showdown between Zardari and Sharif. Chaudhry appears in public Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry made a first public appearance Monday after Pakistan pledged to restore him as the country's top judge, showered with rose petals and beaming at supporters. Chaudhry, wearing a black suit, came out of his home and waved to the cheering crowd as two years' frustration at being out of his position as chief justice of the supreme court ended in jubilation. He smiled as lawyers surrounding him flashed victory signs and rose petals thrown by well-wishers littered his lawn, but he did not speak publicly. Party mood Dancing and weeping with joy, supporters of Pakistan's main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif showered him with rose petals Monday after the government moved to defuse a raging crisis. A day after running street battles with police, the mood turned to one of celebration outside the house in Punjab province where Sharif spent the night ahead of a planned mass protest march on the capital Islamabad. "For me this day is as historic and grand as the day when our country won independence from the British," said 50-year-old Saeed Hasan, wearing a white shalway kameez, a traditional Pakistani dress. His car was stranded in a sea of well-wishers who coated its roof in pink rose petals and pressed against the vehicle, straining to catch a glimpse of their hero in the front seat talking to television stations. "I am happier than when my children were born," said local businessman and 27-year-old father Shafqat Mehmood. "An independent judiciary means our country is now in safe hands."