ISLAMABAD, March 9: The pre-Nov 3, 2007, judiciary can be restored by merely issuing an executive order and “we hope that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will play his constitutional role to save the country from disaster”, PML-N president Mian Shahbaz Sharif told a press conference on Monday.

He said this had been conveyed to Mr Gilani through his representative who met the PML-N leadership. Mr Shahbaz said PML-N was ready for reconciliation and had not declared war against the rulers.

“The PML-N does not want confrontation. It believes in consultation. But there should be no cheating in the name of reconciliation.”

He said he was unfazed by threats of registration of a sedition case and his party’s plan to participate in the long march was immutable.

He said that Mr Asif Ali Zardari and Rehman Malik were trying to obstruct the PML-N just like former president Pervez Musharraf had obstructed the opposition.

Questioning the authority of PCO judges, he said it was mystifying how could judges who had “committed treason by protecting unconstitutional acts of a dictator”, try them.

Shahbaz Sharif said the peaceful struggle for the restoration of judiciary would continue undiminished, adding that people who had damaged private or public property were not PML-N workers.

“We have directed our workers to remain peaceful and avoid violence.”

Reiterating his party’s commitment to continue the movement until it achieved its goals, he said he was in Islamabad to finalise some long march arrangements.

He accused Rehman Malik of “embezzling Rs500 million from the national exchequer” and said the money had been used for ‘horse-trading’ in Punjab.

The former chief minister said that the amount had been withdrawn from the account of the Intelligence Bureau. “Who is he to advise us? I do not want to go into detail about his past … how can a country burdened by loans afford horse-trading?”

About his meeting with the US ambassador, he said he had told the US diplomat that the PML-N was ready for reconciliation but it did “not trust Asif Ali Zardari”.

“We discussed matters of mutual interest and the critical political situation. I told the US ambassador that reconciliation is possible, but (Mr) Zardari is not reliable,” Mr Sharif said, adding that he believed that Mr Zardari was behind the decision to disqualify him and Nawaz Sharif.

About the repeal of the 17th Amendment, he said the PML-N leadership was ready to sit with the government, but it would strike no bargain on the judiciary’s independence.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who accompanied Shahbaz Sharif to the press conference, warned the government against

the use of force to stop the long march and said it would be held “responsible for consequences”.

Khawaja Saad Rafique and other PML-N leaders also attended the press conference.
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