May 03, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 26, 1429

LAHORE, May 2: Jamaat-i-Islami Asmir Qazi Hussain Ahmed has said that the judges should be restored by an executive order because the ruling coalition lacked two-thirds majority in the senate for the approval of a constitutional package.

Addressing a Friday prayers congregation at the Mansoora Mosque here, he said those talking about the constitutional package were in fact accepting the Nov 2 unconstitutional action of General Pervez Musharraf as valid. He said that the nation had voted against General Musharraf but some of the political leaders were reluctant to respect the public mandate because of their vested interests.

He said that the US was opposed to the restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry because of the fear that he would order recovery of the missing persons.

He said that impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf was the only way for solution to all the problems for the ruling coalition because he had violated the constitution by proclaiming emergency as chief of army staff. The ruling coalition had two-thirds majority for the joint session of national assembly and the senate required for impeachment.

WARNING: The Jamaat-i-Islami has termed Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Nuri al-Maliki (Iraqi prime minister) of the PPP.

At a press conference here on Friday, Lahore amir Hafiz Salman Butt said the US was trying to impose Iraq and Afghanistan model of democracy in the Muslim world, particularly in Pakistan, and added that Gen Musharraf had agreed to act like Hamid Karzai (Afghanistan president) of Pakistan.

He warned that the nation would not accept any conditional restoration of judges or any attempt to curtail chief justice's term or powers.

He asked PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari to keep in mind that masses had not given a mandate to his party to strike a deal with Musharraf and co-exist with him for the next five years.

Butt warned that if Gen Musharraf was not impeached, all the national policies for the next five years would continue to come from Washington.

Answering a question about Imran Khan’s decision to contest by-polls from

NA-55 (Rawalpindi) to challenge the PPP leadership, he said the decision reflected political immaturity since the constituency had a majority of anti-PPP voters.