Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari refused to reinstate sacked chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, during a meeting of leaders of the ruling coalition, a private television channel reported on Wednesday.According to Waqt TV, Zardari, during the meeting, kept on insisting that the sacked CJP should not be reinstated. Zardari fears that the sacked CJ could pose a threat to the current government if the latter -- upon restoration to the Supreme Court (SC) -- decided to reopen for adjudication cases on the National Reconciliation Order and President Pervez Musharraf's eligibility to contest for office, the channel said.
It said that Zardari wanted a guarantee for Chaudhry not reviving either issue upon restoration. The channel said that close aides of the PPP co-chairman have assured him that SC Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan could make such a guarantee, adding that Zardari however was not ready to trust him.