President choice put off for now, first signs of rift on judges’ issue

The two men have also disagreed over the restoration of the judges, particularly the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was fired by Musharraf more than a year ago.

The question of restoration of judges was already proving a sticking point on Tuesday, and in the aftermath of the removal of Musharraf, threatened to derail the unusual solidarity the coalition achieved in the past 10 days.

Zardari — who signed an agreement 10 days ago with Sharif to restore the judges within 72 hours of Musharraf’s removal —and his party were “now dragging their feet” on Chaudhry, according to Arif Nizami, the editor of The Nation newspaper.

The editor, who is close to Sharif, said he doubted the PML-N leader would cave on the issue of Chaudhry. The sacked Chief Justice has become a symbol of the anti-Musharraf campaign.

Musharraf fired the 60 judges after imposing an emergency decree last November. Zardari, along with many bureaucrats and politicians, is the beneficiary of an amnesty on corruption charges that was agreed to by Musharraf on Zardari’s return from exile earlier this year. Zardari has been advised that Chaudhry might attempt to undo the amnesty if he is restored as chief justice.

Another complicating factor is the appointment during the emergency of Abdul Hamid Dogar as Chief Justice to replace Chaudhry. Dogar comes from Sindh province, the political base of Zardari, and the two men are known to be on friendly terms.

Once the issue of the judiciary is settled, the coalition would turn to nominating a president. Among the names being put forward by the PPP were the Speaker of the National Assembly, Fehmida Mirza, and Aftab Shaaban Mirani, a PPP stalwart.

The new president will almost certainly be a figurehead, and is unlikely to enjoy the wide powers of Musharraf. One of the issues on the agenda for the coalition this week is to draft an amendment that would remove the ability of the Pakistani president to dissolve parliament, and instal emergency rule.