ISLAMABAD, Oct 26: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has rejected President Asif Ali Zardari’s claim that there is no judicial crisis in the country.

“Till the unconstitutional decision of General Musharraf of November 3, 2007, is not reversed in letter and spirit, the legacy of the dictator will live and continue to challenge the independence of judiciary,” said Secretary Information PML-N Ahsan Iqbal in a statement on Sunday.

He said the issue was not about the number of judges but all about the chief justice of Pakistan whose unconstitutional dismissal on March 9, 2007, sparked the ‘restoration of chief justice movement’.

The sacrifices of lawyers, civil society activists, media and political workers cannot be allowed to go in vain. “The matter may be over for the president but for PML-N, lawyers, civil society and the media it is very much on top of national agenda.”

He said it was quite ironical that deposed judges were being branded as political, because they were speaking about the cause of rule of law. The nation is grateful to these judges that they took a position against the dictator to uphold the constitution. The lawyers’ community deserves great admiration for the courage and sacrifices which they have made for rule of law in the country.

He said the PML-N was watching the situation cautiously despite having very serious differences with the government on many issues because of the serious nature of challenges which the country is facing at the moment. But if the circumstances deteriorate further, it will have to reassess the situation.

He said his party wishes to give PPP government an opportunity to fulfil its promises with the nation. However, it will play a constructive role in opposition by highlighting government's mistakes and defending national interests. “The Charter of Democracy forms the basis of new relationship with PPP to collectively work for strengthening democracy despite political differences in contrast with the past. Therefore, PML-N desires to see the CoD implemented in letter and spirit. The first article of CoD committed both the parties to repeal General Musharraf's 17th amendment except women seats, joint electorate, voters’ age and increase in seats provisions under which he acquired extraordinary powers.

“Unfortunately, we are not seeing progress on repeal of the 17th amendment to restore the parliamentary character of the constitution. The present system is not parliamentary in nature because it retains all the powers of the president’s office which General Musharraf acquired unconstitutionally.

The matters like vice-president's office are secondary and nowhere mentioned in Charter of Democracy. We must first implement the CoD articles and then take up other issues.” He said the government does not realise that one of the reasons it was facing lack of credibility was that it breached its written agreements on the judges’ issue. “As a result, no country is willing to give Pakistan any cash assistance which is a matter of shame.”