Sharif party to quit Pakistan's government

Nawaz Sharif, a former Pakistani prime minister, has announced that ministers from his political party will withdraw from the cabinet over the delayed reinstatement of judges sacked last year. Speaking at a news conference on May 12, Sharif said: "Our ministers will submit their resignations to the prime minister tomorrow." He said his party, the Pakistani Muslim League (PML-N), was "bound by this date," referring to a deadline he set with his main coalition partner, the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, for judges sacked by Pervez Musharraf, the president, to be reinstated. However, he said his party would not take any decision that would strengthen the "dictatorship," referring to Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president. Sharif's party, the PML-N, pledged to continue supporting the six-week old coalition from outside the government, the prime minister's office said. In a statement, it said: "Senior Federal Minister for Food, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan called on Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani this morning and assured him that PML-N members would continue to support the coalition government, regardless of the decision taken by the party leadership today." Sharif had earlier announced the judges would be restored after talks with his ally Asif Ali Zardari, who co-chairs the PPP, in Dubai. The reinstatement of the judges would likely have caused trouble for Musharraf, who considers them hostile. Musharraf dismissed around 60 judges after imposing six-weeks of emergency rule in November, in order to preempt a ruling against his October re-election. If reinstated, its possible the judges would revive the case against Musharraf's re-election. Sharif, the prime minister overthrown by Musharraf in a coup in 1999, wants the judges restored immediately, but Zardari wants to avoid immediate confrontation with Musharraf. The PPP, instead, favors linking the reinstatement of the judges to a constitutional reform package. Additionally, it wants to sideline Iftikhar Chaudhry, the former chief justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court.