LONDON ( 2008-05-10 21:18:23 ) :The fresh round of negotiations between the ruling coalition partners PPP and PML-N aimed at reaching consensus on the thorny issue of restoring the Judiciary concluded on Saturday afternoon.

The discussions were held between PML leader, Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Advisor to the Prime Minister, Rahman Malik and the designated Pakistan envoy to USA Hussein Haqqani.

After concluding their talks which were described by Malik as moving in the right, the trio drove to the hotel where the PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari is putting up to update him on the progress made thus far.

The two parties earlier had failed in their bid to break the deadlock on Friday when Zardari and PML-N Chief Nawaz held seven hours of discussion spread over two rounds.

Although the two parties have agreed on the restoration of the judiciary in general, the sticking point remains the modalities with PML-N insisting on bringing back the sacked judges through a resolution to be passed by the Parliament on May 12 while PPP wants a constitutional amendment that would accommodate both old and new judges while clipping President’s power to sack the government and parliament at will.

Both Zardari and Nawaz are expected to meet again later in the evening to give their final consent to what has been decided by their respective delegates on the judiciary crisis.

It has also been reported that Nawaz has delayed his return to Pakistan by a day in order to resolve the issue. He was earlier scheduled to fly home on Saturday afternoon.

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