Sharif’s party quits Pakistan cabinet: state TV

May 15th, 2008 Sana · 1 Comment

Source: AFP

ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Nine ministers from the party of former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif resigned Tuesday over a dispute about the reinstatement of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, state TV said.

The ministers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at his office in Islamabad, the report said.

Sharif announced Monday his party would withdraw from the cabinet after coalition missed a Monday deadline to reinstate the judges sacked by Musharraf last year under emergency rule.

The move could plunge Pakistan and its six-week-old government into a fresh political crisis, although Sharif insisted the PML-N would continue to support Gilani’s government.

The ministers were sworn in on March 31 after Sharif joined a coalition with the Pakistan People’s Party following their massive victory over Musharraf’s allies in February 18 general elections.

Musharraf, who came to power following a coup in 1999, deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and dozens of other judges in November when it appeared they might overturn his re-election as president the month before.

The judges were also to rule on a decree issued by Musharraf granting amnesty to political leaders charged with corruption. PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto’s widower, himself is a beneficiary of the law.