ISLAMABAD, April 30: As the 30-day deadline for reinstatement of the deposed judges expired on Wednesday, the top leadership of PPP and PML-N remained engaged in talks in Dubai in an effort to resolve differences over the issue. After two marathon rounds, they agreed to hold more talks on Thursday, thus keeping the hopes alive that the ruling coalition might stay in place.

A senior PML-N leader came out of the hotel room where the teams of the two parties had held talks for seven hours and issued a short statement before a group of reporters announcing that the two sides would continue their talks on Thursday.

Both sides, however, claimed that progress had been made, but said that because of the sensitivity of the matter they could not divulge details.

“We held talks for seven hours. There has been progress and we have decided to postpone our programme to return to the country and will again meet on Thursday and, hopefully, this will be the final round of talks,” said Senior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of the PML-N at the end of the second round of talks.

Chaudhry Nisar also claimed that ‘progress has been made but some sensitive issues are still to be resolved’. He said that they were ‘optimistic’ about a positive outcome. He said there was agreement between leaders of the two parties on most of the issues and only a few legal issues were to be sorted out.

PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari is leading his team which comprises Law Minister Farooq Naek and Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik, whereas the PML-N team is led by Mian Nawaz Sharif and includes Shahbaz Sharif, Chudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Khawaja Asif and advocate Khawaja Haris.

About the expiry of the 30-day deadline for reinstatement of the judges as agreed in the Murree Declaration, Chaudhry Nisar said: “A few hours here and there do not matter.”

He categorically stated that no ‘minus-one formula’ (reinstatement of all judges except deposed chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry) was under consideration.

When asked why were the talks being held in a foreign country, he said Mr Zardari was in Dubai because of some ‘pressing family commitment’ and, therefore, the PML-N had decided to hold talks with the PPP team in the UAE.

Later, Mr Rehman Malik of the PPP told private TV channels that the talks were progressing in a positive manner and, hopefully, the two sides would announce a joint plan on the judges’ issue on Thursday.

As the entire nation waited for news, watching TV channels, all sorts of speculations were doing the round about possible outcome of the Dubai talks.

PML-N office-bearers, who had been busy for a couple of days making arrangements for a joint meeting of the party’s Central Working Committee (CWC) and the parliamentary group in Lahore on Thursday, postponed the meeting after Mr Sharif and his team decided to extend their stay in Dubai.

PML-N spokesman Siddiqul Farooque told Dawn that the meeting had been postponed and a new date would be announced after the outcome of the Dubai talks.

Political experts say that the fact the two sides held talks for almost the whole day on Wednesday and agreed to meet again on Thursday shows that they are sincerely trying to save the ruling coalition, because a collapse of the government will be disastrous for the future of democracy in the country.

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif rushed to Dubai on Tuesday night after a party team led by president Shahbaz Sharif had failed to achieve a breakthrough in talks with PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

Leaders of both parties were tightlipped about a constitutional package which the PPP wants to bring in parliament.