LAHORE, Feb 20: The PML-N has decided in principle to take part in the lawyers’ sit-in in front of the parliament building in Islamabad, which the organisers say will continue till the reinstatement of all deposed judges of the superior judiciary.

The decision was taken on Friday at a meeting between PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif and a delegation of lawyers in Raiwind.

“We have decided to participate in the sit-in and are also ready to go a step further for the cause of the judiciary that stood against a dictator,” Ms Sharif said at a press conference after the meeting. He did not elaborate his ‘a step further’ remark.

The PML-N has some reservations about the arrangements for the planned sit-in and its indefinite timeframe.

Mr Sharif said his party had highlighted the reservations so that the sit-in could be made more “result-oriented”. He said the party had no hesitation in taking part in the sit-in.

He urged the people to take part in the long march and the subsequent “dharna” in large numbers.

Parrying a question about his own presence at the event, Mr Sharif said the future of the nation depended on the success of the lawyers’ movement. Details like participation of other political parties would be decided later.

When asked whether or not the democratic system could be wound up in case of some untoward development during the proposed protest, the PML-N leader ruled out any such possibility. “Why would anyone take steps against a noble cause?”

At the meeting with the delegation of lawyers, led by Supreme Court Bar Association president Ali Ahmad Kurd and Aitzaz Ahsan, PML-N leaders expressed their reservations about the proposed sit-in, sources said.

The lawyers shared with them their plans for the long march and the sit-in. Mr Sharif said the lawyers’ plans would be discussed by his party’s General Council which was scheduled to meet on Saturday (today). The lawyers were, however, urged to formulate a timeframe for the sit-in.