Lawyers march for judges' reinstatement

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 10 (UPI) -- Pakistani lawyers, upset over the delay by the new government to reinstate dismissed judges, began a march toward Islamabad to press their demands.

CNN reported hundreds of lawyers joined the cross-country protest in behalf of the judges dismissed by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf during his brief emergency rule last year.

The coalition government had promised to bring back the dismissed judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, 30 days after being sworn-in.

Some of the lawyers have asserted that the judges were removed to thwart them from ruling against Musharraf's re-election to a third term.

The reinstatement issue has remained bogged down because of differences between the two main parties in the coalition.

The party led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says the judges can be restored under an executive order. But the main Pakistan People's Party led by Asif Ali Zardari wants it done through a constitutional package, which would also trim the powers of the president, the report said.