Signalling that it was ready for a showdown with President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's new government has said that the 'extra-constitutional steps' taken by him during emergency rule last year are not part of the Constitution, as Parliament is yet to endorse them.
"No individual is authorised to amend the Constitution and Parliament alone can take such an action only with a two-thirds majority," new Law Minister Farooq Naek has said.
Naek said the coalition government led by the Pakistan People's Party is committed to reinstating the judges sacked by Musharraf, including former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, within 30 days of coming to power.
The 30-day countdown for reinstating the deposed judges began on March 31, he told media persons.
The Constitution had not been amended since 2003 when Parliament passed the 17th Amendment to give Musharraf sweeping powers, said Naek, who was earlier the lawyer for slain PPP chief Benazir Bhutto and her widower Asif Ali Zardari.
The Supreme Court formed after the emergency had endorsed the Provisional Constitution Order issued by Musharraf on November 3, 2007, when emergency was imposed without having the authority to do so, Naek told media persons.
Referring to allegations by Supreme Court Bar Association president Aitzaz Ahsan that conspiracies were being hatched to subvert the reinstatement of the judges, Naek said the lawyers' movement should avoid making such statements and instead trust the government.
The government will deliver some 'good news' on the issue of reinstating the judges, he said.
The Law Ministry has begun work on judicial and legal reforms.
Naek said Zardari, the co-chairman of the PPP, had shared his experiences in jail with him and wanted the ministry to incorporate his suggestions in the reforms.
