Pakistan’s PML-N says will quit coalition if judge issue unresolved

PAKISTAN: A spokesman for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said on Monday that the party would quit the coalition if the judge issue could not be resolved within one month.

The PML-N may quit the coalition if the difference with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) could not be resolved in one month, Siddiqul Farooq told local Dawn News TV channel.

The PML-N, led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and the PPP emerged as the two largest parties in National Assembly, lower house of the parliament, in the general elections held on Feb. 18.

The two parties agreed to form a coalition government and also pledged to restore the deposed judges within 30 days from the day when the government was formed.

The judges were stacked by President Pervez Musharraf last November under a state of emergency.

On May 13, the nine PML-N ministers pulled out of the government, but stayed in the coalition, following the failure of talks with PPP on the issue of deposed judges.

Siddiqul Farooq also expressed disagreement over the government‘s military operation against the militants in tribal regions, saying the action is against the aspiration of the Pakistani people.

The Pakistani government started a military operation against extremist groups in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber tribal agency on Saturday, the first major operation since the new government took power.

“The Khyber operation will lead the country to nowhere,” said the PML-N spokesman.

Islamabad, Tuesday, Xinhua