Top PML-N leaders leave for Dubai to meet Zardari

Two major parties in the ruling coalition are putting final touches on their plan to reinstate top judges President Pervez Musharraf removed late last year.Top leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) flew on Sunday evening to Dubai for holding talks with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.Officials in both parties said deliberations in the Gulf state might help two sides remove differences ahead of yet another summit meeting within a couple of days. Former premier Nawaz Sharif and Zardari are likely to meet on Tuesday for what is being perceived as their final get together to resolve the matter once for all.The duo met in Islamabad three times in as many days last week but their negotiations on the modalities to restore judges remained inconclusive. PML-N top leaders Shahbaz Sharif, Nisar Ali Khan, Khawaja Asif and Khawaja Haris, an advocate to assists the committee, are expected to fine tune the draft resolution for the restoration of deposed judges with Zardari on Monday.Law Minister Farooq H. Naek has also reached Dubai to apprise Zardari of his team’s recent meetings with PML-N leadership as the promised deadline approaches fast. Naek told media on Friday that a parliamentary committee of two parties had finalised the draft of the resolution to be tabled in the National Assembly but put the final decision on top leadership.PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif formed the committee of their close aides last week after several rounds of their direct talks failed to reach at an agreement. The arch political rivals of the past formed a governing coalition last month and then agreed to restore jurists within a month of the swearing in of the new parliament.But there seemed to be differences over not only how judges should be restored but also the way they should subsequently be handled. The PPP is reportedly pushing for a constitutional package to limit the tenure of chief justice to three years. Nawaz Sharif is against the idea that will force deposed top judge Iftikhar Chaudhry to resign in June this year.”They all (PML-N leaders) are going to Dubai tonight to meet Zardari. They will finalise the draft resolution and follow up action for the restoration of deposed judges with Zardari,” a senior party stalwart told Business Recorder. He said his party men would fly back on Monday and brief Nawaz Sharif about their parleys with PPP co-chairperson.Nawaz would return to the federal capital from Lahore on Monday evening or early Tuesday. Whereas PPP co-chairman Zardari is also likely to fly back to Pakistan on Monday from Dubai. He said the PML-N leadership had been conveyed that Zardari would come back on Monday. “And the meeting between Sharif and Zardari is likely on Tuesday in Islamabad,” he maintained.