Emergency in Pakistan will be lifted and the constitution restored on December 15, the country's top legal official said on Friday.
The Provisional Constitutional Order issued by President Pervez Musharraf after imposing emergency last month to suspend the constitution and key fundamental rights will also be withdrawn, Attorney General Malik Qayyum said.
"Emergency will be lifted on December 15 and if not on that day, then definitely on December 16," Qayyum told Dawn News channel.
The Constitution will be restored to its status as on November 3, when emergency was proclaimed, except for some 'minor amendments,' he said. These amendments include one which states that all actions by the President during the emergency cannot be challenged in any court.
Qayyum said there was no need for the amendments to be ratified by Parliament as they had already been validated by the Supreme Court after the imposition of emergency.
Musharraf imposed emergency on November 3 and sacked a majority of the judges of the apex court who had refused to endorse the measure. The Supreme Court now comprises judges who have taken oath under the PCO.
A day after quitting as army chief on November 28, Musharraf had said during an address to the nation that he intended to lift the emergency by December 16.
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