Islamabad: Picking up reconciliation efforts, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said Governor's rule in Punjab will end soon, a move that may lead to Shahbaz Sharif getting back as Chief Minister of the politically crucial province.
"I am against Governor's rule (in Punjab and) will end it as soon as possible," he told reporters after President Asif Ali Zardari reinstated Iftikhar M Chaudhry as Chief Justice and yielded to other demands of opposition PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif to defuse the political crisis.
The Shahbaz Sharif government in Punjab was removed last month following the February 25 order of the Supreme Court barring both him and his brother Nawaz from contesting elections and holding public offices.
As part of the patch-up formula, Zardari had agreed that the government will file an appeal in the apex court against the verdict.
Zardari reinstated Chaudhry and other judges sacked under emergency rule two years ago by then President Pervez Musharraf.
A brief statement issued by presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Chaudhry will assume office on March 22 after the retirement of incumbent Abdul Hamid Dogar on March 21.
Zardari's ruling Pakistan People's Party on Monday buckled under pressure from the lawyers' movement and opposition PML-N for reinstating judges deposed by former President Pervez Musharraf during the 2007 emergency rule.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced the government's decision to reinstate the judges as PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was leading thousands of supporters in a long march to Islamabad to pressurise the government on the issue.
Sharif subsequently called off the protest.
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