ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said that deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was the ‘Imam’ of all deposed judges and he would be reinstated soon along with other judges. He, however, gave no timeframe for the restoration.

He was talking to newsmen at his chamber in the Parliament House here on Tuesday after meeting a delegation of minority MPs. “The restoration of the judges has been on the agenda of the PPP government from the very first day and even our Shaheed leader Benazir Bhutto had made a commitment, so we will fulfill this commitment to restore the deposed judges,” he added.

He reminded that the first thing he did after getting elected as leader of the house was to order the immediate release of the detained judges. Asked whether the deposed judges would be restored before or after the presidential election, the prime minister did not give any timeframe and left the matter to parliament to take a decision. “Let parliament decide whether to restore them before or after the presidential election as parliament is sovereign,” he said.

“We have achieved 90 per cent democracy by removing Pervez Musharraf and the remaining 10 per cent will be achieved with the restoration of all the deposed judges, including the chief justice,” he said.

He also hinted at a major reshuffle as well as expansion of the federal cabinet after the presidential election. The prime minister said it was because of the joint struggle and cooperation of all the democratic forces, including the PML-N, that the biggest hurdle in the way of the democratic process was removed with the resignation of Pervez Musharraf.

He was hopeful of the PML-N’s return to the coalition, saying after the restoration of the deposed judges we would request Mian Nawaz Sharif to reconsider his decision. Appreciating Asif Ali Zardari’s gesture of apologising to Nawaz Sharif for not honouring his promise on the judges issue, he said Zardari did not make it an issue of ego.

Asked about the fate of the controversial 17th Amendment, the premier said the PPP never accepted the 17th Amendment and both the PPP and the PML-N are committed to repealing this amendment. He said there should be no ambiguity in this regard.

Asked about the political relations with the PML-N the prime minister said the PPP enjoyed a good working relationship with the PML-N and the two parties were committed to repealing the 17th Amendment, the independence of the judiciary, strengthening of institutions and the supremacy of parliament.

He ruled out any confrontation between the federal and Punjab governments saying in a democracy governments formed by different parties at the federal and provincial levels can co-exist.

Asked about the possibility of cooperation with the PML-Q, he said nothing is final in politics. Regarding the MQM, he said the PPP has a coalition arrangement with them in Sindh and it is working well. Earlier, the prime minister gave a cheque of Rs500,000 to the father of the Christian boy murdered in Islamabad.

Speaking on the occasion, he said the government would provide the fullest possible security to the minorities and their rights would be fully protected.