The Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, set to form a coalition government in Pakistan, have sought advice from legal experts to address differences over how to reinstate judges deposed during 2007's emergency.
The advice of the experts was sought as lawyers and constitutional experts appeared to be divided over ways to reinstate the judges as well as the fate of the judicial set-up established by President Pervez Musharraf during the emergency.
After imposing emergency on November 3, 2007, Musharraf sacked about 60 members of the superior judiciary, including former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who refused to endorse the measure. He also filled the courts with hand-picked judges.
The PML-N promised to reinstate the judges during its election campaign, which allowed it to garner a lot of support during the February 18 polls. PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has since asserted that delivering on the promise will be a priority after forming government with the Pakistan People's Party.
In view of the 'gravity of the situation', the PPP and PML-N have asked several senior legal experts to give their advice. "I am coming to Islamabad as both Nawaz Sharif and the PPP have asked me to help them in finding a solution," legal expert Fakhruddin G Ibrahim told the Dawn newspaper.
Top human rights activist and constitutional expert Asma Jehangir too met PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari on Monday to discuss the issue.
A four-member committee of legal experts set up by the PPP and PML-N to review the issue of the deposed judges will have its first meeting on Wednesday. The panel will also frame a strategy to repeal the president's powers to dismiss elected prime ministers and dissolve the parliament.
The committee comprises Senator Ishaq Dar and Khwaja Muhammad Asif of the PML-N and Senators Raza Rabbani and Farooq Naek from the PPP.
Experts said two crucial issues involved were whether to reinstate the judges through a constitutional amendment or an executive order, and what would become of Musharraf's hand-picked judges who assumed office after endorsing the emergency and later took a fresh oath under the constitution after the emergency was lifted.
"Reinstatement of the (pre-emergency) judges should not be linked with the removal of the present ones," said senior legal counsel Khalid Anwar, adding that this was the most 'politically-charged question'. Anwar suggested that a solution could be found by giving a chance to the new parliament to debate the issue. He also said there could be two methods to resolve the crisis either to let the Supreme Court decide the matter or let the lawmakers intervene through a constitutional amendment, for which a two-thirds majority in parliament would be needed.
The lawyers' community, including Supreme Court Bar Association president and PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan, has been saying that an executive order would suffice to reinstate the judges who were removed unconstitutionally.