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DUBAI - FORMER Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday he would not budge an inch from his demand for the reinstatement of judges removed by President Pervez Musharraf.
'We cannot accept the November 3 action under any circumstances,' Mr Sharif told private Pakistani Geo television from Dubai, where leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition were due to hold a second round of talks on Thursday.
The discussions are centring on the long-running row over reinstating judges sacked when US ally Musharraf imposed emergency rule in November last year.
'We will not sit with peace until the judges are restored. We are trying our level best that we stay together in the coalition and together return all the judges back to their offices with honour and dignity.'
'I am trying my level best to make sure we fulfil the commitment we made to the nation on the restoration of judges,' he said referring to the March agreement between his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP).
Mr Sharif said the future of the coalition with the PPP could come under review if they failed to agree on the judges issue.
'Our parliamentary party and the central working committee will meet to decide about it,' Mr Sharif said when asked about the future of the coalition if the judges were not restored.
On Wednesday, Mr Sharif met in Dubai with PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari and agreed to hold more talks on Thursday to thrash out remaining differences, a member of his party, Federal Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali, said.
'There has been progress but it has been decided to postpone our departure to Pakistan, which was due tonight, and we are going to continue the discussions tomorrow afternoon,' he told reporters on Wednesday.
'The final decision on the issue will be made tomorrow,' he said, adding that differences remained on some legal and constitutional issues.
With his month-old alliance with Mr Zardari on the line, Mr Sharif flew to the Gulf emirate on Tuesday on the eve of the expiry of a 30-day deadline to resolve the dispute.
The pair agreed in March to push through a parliamentary resolution to reinstate dozens of judges, but the PPP has insisted that judicial reforms also be part of the package. -- AFP
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