LAHORE, Feb 29: PPP deputy information secretary Senator Sajjad Bokhari has said independence of the judiciary is top priority of his party, and it has no objection to renaming the NWFP province as Pakhtoonkhwa.

At a press conference at the PPP Media Centre here on Friday, Bokhari said his party believed in complete independence of the judiciary and would use all its resources to achieve the objective. The PPP was in favour of reinstatement of all the judges deposed under the Nov 3 PCO, but wanted the issue to be resolved permanently through parliament.

He said his party wanted the judiciary to be independent to ensure that no citizen was penalised on political or personal grounds.

Had the judiciary been independent, PPP founder chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto would not have been hanged, Benazir Bhutto would not have been forced to remain in exile and PPP’s current co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari would not have to undergo eleven-and-a-half year imprisonment, Bokhari observed.

He said Gen Pervez Musharraf should have quit the office of president after the defeat of the PML-Q in the general election in accordance with democratic traditions, as he would have to face difficulties otherwise.

He said the PPP had no objection to change the name of NWFP but its Punjab chapter considered holding a referendum on the issue in the province which procedure was more appropriate to resolve the 60-year-old issue.