Neither Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Zardari nor Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif is keen for a meeting at an early date to sort out the unresolved issues especially the question of restoration of the deposed judges and impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf. “For the moment, no Zardari-Sharif session is on the cards as the PPP chief has a busy schedule of meetings with diplomats and party leaders since his return to Pakistan,” PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar told Saudi Gazette. PML-N spokesman Pervez Rashid aired almost the same theme. He said that his party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) would meet next week to come out with certain decisions. He has no idea about the next Sharif-Zardari meeting but he implied that the CEC decisions would set forth the conditions for such a session, any kind of future talks with the PPP and its position in the ruling coalition. Zardari is displeased with the new deadline of Aug. 15 given by Sharif for restoration of the deposed judges. His sense is that the PML-N chief is not interested in a meeting with him in the near future and that's why Sharif has reiterated the fresh deadline. However, Rashid said the PML-N chief has not issued the deadline of Aug 14 for the reinstatement of the dismissed justices. Babar said that the issuance of the deadline shows that Sharif is in no mood to pay attention to the prospects of a meeting with Zardari in the near future. There is a surfeit of deadlines on the question of the restoration of the deposed judges. A lawyers' convention recently issued its own cutoff date, Aug 14, to the Gilani government to reinstate the sacked justices. Later, the All Parties Democratic Alliance (APDM) gave the deadline of Aug. 31. Babar did not approve the politics of deadlines but admitted that his party had mistakenly bound itself to such a phenomenon in the Murree accord. However, a PML-N leader said that the last paragraph of a letter that Sharif had written to Zardari sometime back had said that restoration of the sacked judges and impeachment of Musharraf would be an excellent gift to the nation on the auspicious day of Aug. 14. He said this could not be interpreted as a deadline, but it was a prudent proposal to pull the nation out of the state of demoralization by doing something to it according to its aspirations. Off-the-record discussions with PPP and PML-N leaders projected severe bitterness in their tone and tenor against each other. They are heading towards a showdown that will rupture their alliance and only a miracle could save the imminent breakdown. “As the situation is developing, it may be difficult for the PML-N to remain loyal to its earlier declaration that it would continue to support the government and would not allow its collapse even if its demands are not met,” the PML-N leader said. On the face of it, there is no effort from “doves” of either side to bring the ties between two main coalition partners back on track. Neither side is ready to break the ice because of the rigidity of their respective positions particularly on the judges' issue. __
