With media bill, new Pak govt starts undoing Musharraf dictates

Promising more to come, it was a rare upbeat moment in a week plagued by factional violence and signs of cracks emerging in the four-party ruling coalition that emerged from February 18 parliamentary elections.

And tougher work looms ahead as the coalition tries to make good on promises to curtail Musharraf’s clout, review his US-backed policies against terrorism and shore up the faltering economy.

Reinstating senior judges purged last year by the former military strongman has been the main commitment holding together the coalition, which took office last week. But how to do that already is creating dissension.

The parties of slain ex-leader Benazir Bhutto and another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, have promised to bring back the judges through a parliamentary resolution by the end of this month. But Sharif’s party wants them restored immediately, while Bhutto’s party wants a comprehensive judicial reform package.

“This is our first step. We will do more for the independence of media, both electronic and print, in the days to come,” she said, and added that 10 clauses would be repealed, ending the power of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to seal a network’s premises, seize equipment, revoke an operating license arbitrarily, issue crippling fines for violation of the industry’s code of conduct, and curb live coverage.

Law Minister Farooq Naek, a leading member of Bhutto’s party, said Friday that lawmakers should now work out a solution to the judges issue. Speculation has been growing that Bhutto’s widower and political successor, Asif Ali Zardari, may compromise with Musharraf on the matter.

On Thursday, a Sharif lieutenant rejected Zardari’s call for a “comprehensive package” to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and said the judges should be restored through a simple parliamentary resolution.

Musharraf used the emergency to purge the Supreme Court just before it could rule on the legality of his October re-election as president.Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, was still army chief at the time, a post some constitutional experts say disqualified him from running for elected office.

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