Bhutto party to discuss Pakistani ruling coalition's fate

Islamabad - The party of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was set Wednesday to decide whether to accept the resignations of cabinet members from a major partner in Pakistan's ruling coalition.

The decision will be taken in the meeting of the Central Executive Committee and Federal Council of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which is now headed by Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari.

"Mr Zardari will make an announcement to this regard after the meeting tonight," said party spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

Nine ministers from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) handed in their resignations to the Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday but he refused to accept them, in a bid to make last-ditch efforts to save coalition from disintegration.

The PPP and PML-N formed an alliance after thrashing the political backers of President Pervez Musharraf in February 18 parliamentary elections.

But they developed differences over how to restore more than 60 judges, including chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Musharraf sacked under an emergency order on November 3.

The move was made as the Supreme Court was expected to rule against his controversial presidential re-election for the second five-year term.

Sharif pressed for unconditional reinstatement of judges through a parliamentary resolution, followed by an executive order.

Zardari, on the other hand, has proposed a reform package limiting the judge's powers, especially those of independent-minded justice Chaudhry, who has repeatedly challenged Musharraf through his judicial activism.

Zardari believes Chaudhry's restoration with full powers could lead to a head-on-head collision between the government and president, triggering one more political crisis in the country, a key US ally in the fight against terrorism.

Unable to abridge the differences, the two leaders missed a revised, self-imposed deadline to reinstate the judges on Monday, a day after their two-day talks ended with an impasse over the issue in London.

This prompted an announcement from Sharif that his party was withdrawing its ministers from the six-week-old cabinet. However, he pledged to continue supporting the PPP-led government on issue-to- issue basis.

Analysts opine that despite Sharif's offer for continuing cooperation, the PPP-led government would from now on stand on shaky ground if the PML-N minister's resignations are accepted, further increasing the political uncertainty the country is currently facing.