New round of negotiations on judiciary begins

ASSOCIATED PRESS SERVICE



LONDON:The ruling coalition partners-PPP and PML-N- began a fresh round of negotiations on Saturday in a last ditch efforts to reach consensus on the vexed issue of reinstating the judiciary.
The two parties had failed in their bid to break the deadlock on Friday when PPP Co-Chair Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif held seven hours of discussion spread over two rounds.
Although the two parties have agreed on the restoration of the judiciary in general, the sticking point remains the modalities with PML-N insisting on bringing back the sacked judges through a resolution to be passed by the Parliament on May 12 while PPP wants a constitutional amendment that would accommodate both old and new judges while clipping President’s power to sack the government and parliament at will.
The Saturday afternoon discussion are taking place between the Federal Petroleum Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior Rahman Malik.
They are attempting to thrash out a common ground that would be given final consent by the respective party leaders who are expected to meet again later this evening. It has been reported that Nawaz Sharif has delayed his return to Pakistan by a day in order to resolve the issue. He was earlier scheduled to fly home this afternoon.