ISLAMABAD, May 14: Taking a new position, the Pakistan People’s Party said on Wednesday the deposed judges would be reinstated through a resolution to be adopted by a joint session of the two houses of parliament.

“We are preparing a resolution to take it to the joint house (of parliament),” PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said at his first news conference after Monday’s decision by the Pakistan Muslim League-N to quit the PPP-led federal coalition cabinet on the issue of restoration of the judiciary.

Mr Zardari, who arrived from London on Tuesday night, declined to give any timeframe for presenting the resolution, saying “then you will start a countdown”.

The Murree Declaration, signed by Mr Zardari and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on March 9 said: “….. it was decided that the restoration of the deposed judges as it was on November 2, 2007, shall be brought about through a parliamentary resolution to be passed in the National Assembly within thirty days of the formation of the federal government”.

The PPP, which failed to reinstate the deposed judges within 30 days of the formation of the government under the Murree Declaration, is now taking a position which, according to political experts, is a deviation from the summit declaration which clearly stated that the resolution should be passed only in the National Assembly.

The PML-N gave a cautious response to the new development, saying it would respond only after seeking guidance from its legal experts on implications of the resolution being tabled in a joint session.

Talking to Dawn, PML-N secretary-general Senator Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said his party still believed that a simple resolution in the National Assembly was sufficient to restore the deposed judges. “However, we will see why the PPP is now insisting on a joint resolution,” he added.

Mr Zardari made it clear that all the present judges would be retained while the deposed judges would be reinstated. He said his party was committed to the Murree Declaration and the judges would have to be restored without disturbing any judge.

PML-N leaders while announcing the decision to quit the cabinet on Monday said their party was not in favour of retaining the judges appointed after November 3, 2007, by President Pervez Musharraf.

Mr Zardari said the PPP had differences with the PML-N only on one point. He said that other coalition partners -- ANP and JUI-F -- at the centre and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in Sindh had their own points of view on the issue of judges’ reinstatement.

The PPP co-chairman said Mr Sharif wanted reinstatement of the deposed judges through a notification and removal of other judges through de-notification. He said his legal experts had told him that if they tried to restore the judges through the use of police, the present judges could issue a stay order and there could be a constitutional crisis in the country. “I believe that two wrongs cannot make one right,” he said.

Mr Zardari clarified that there were only some 37 or 38 judges who would be restored and not 60 as being reported in the media.

He said he was still in contact with Mr Sharif and the PPP would remain in the Punjab government led by the PML-N. “We want reconciliation, but not minus Nawaz Sharif.”

Mr Zardari said that perhaps it was due to his own ‘political weaknesses’ that he had so far failed to convince Mr Sharif on PPP’s position on the judges’ issue and admitted that his party’s stance on retaining the PCO judges went against the spirit of the Charter of Democracy signed by PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Mr Sharif some three years back, for which it was paying a big political price.

He said he did not consider the judges’ issue a major problem of the country as being portrayed by the media, adding that the issues like wheat and grain were more important.

Mr Zardari did not respond when asked if the signing of the Murree Declaration was his political mistake. He defended his decision of reconciliation with the political parties which had supported and voted for a military dictator.

He said when he talked about punishing the judges for validating military takeovers, he meant the future judges. “In future, if a judge will validate a military takeover he will be taken to task along with the dictator,” he added.

When asked whether the PPP would appoint its own ministers to replace those of the PML-N who had resigned, he said he would meet Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday and could respond only after that meeting.

In response to a question regarding the UN probe into the assassination of Ms Bhutto, he said the prime minister had sought comments from the law ministry and the government would send a request to the UN this month. He said his party wanted to avenge Ms Bhutto’s murder by changing the system for which a major means could be the setting up of a truth and reconciliation commission as mentioned in the CoD.

About his meeting with US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson earlier in the day, Mr Zardari said the main concern of the US was the war against terrorism for which its officials kept on meeting Pakistani politicians only to know whether the coalition would survive and what would happen to the ongoing reconciliation process.

He said it should be remembered that Ms Bhutto had forced a military dictator to remove his uniform with the help of these outside forces.

Earlier, Mr Zardari presided over a meeting of party’s MNAs, MPAs, senators and members of the Central Executive Committee and Federal Council from Punjab to review the political situation in the province after the PML-N’s decision to quit the federal government.

Although the party has convened the meeting of its members only from Punjab, it was also attended by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Leader of the House in the Senate Raza Rabbani and Information Minister Sherry Rehman -- all from Sindh. However, the absence of senior vice-chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim from the meeting was conspicuous.

ANP president Asfandyar Wali also called on Mr Zardari and discussed the future strategy of the ruling coalition on the judges’ issue. They also discussed issues relating to the NWFP government.