BREAKING NEWS: Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Reportedly to Be Restored as Chief Justice of Pakistan

(Cross-posted from SAJAforum)

Chief-justice-iftikhar2-300x295[1]Via Reuters (and Sadia Abbas), some breaking news from Pakistan:

The Pakistan government agreed on Monday to reinstate Iftikhar Chaudhry as Supreme Court chief justice to end a political crisis that has gripped the Muslim nation, a government official said.

The official added that a constitutional package would also be presented.

President Asif Ali Zardari had hitherto stonewalled calls from the opposition led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and a lawyers' movement to restore the judge.

Chaudhry was dismissed in late 2007 by then-president and army chief Pervez Musharraf, but Zardari regarded the judge as too politicized and feared he could pose a threat to his own presidency if restored. [link]

No solid confirmation as yet, but Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is scheduled to address the nation shortly.

Watch a live stream from Samaa TV (Urdu) here:


Some links to other Pakistani television news streams:

For updates, see Twitter, the live update feed from Teeth Maestro, and SAJAforum. Here's a screenshot of Teeth Maestro's update feed from earlier this evening (via Chapati Mystery):

Deal or No Deal?


Posted by Anil Kalhan