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Islamabad: Pakistan's former prime minister on Saturday warned against dissolving the newly elected parliament and called for the restoration of judges fired by President Pervez Musharraf.
"Whoever dissolves the Parliament, his hands should be broken," Nawaz Sharif said in Islamabad.
Although Sharif did not name anyone, his words appeared aimed at Musharraf.
Sharif heads the second-largest party in the new coalition government that is led by the party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
The coalition has vowed to curb Musharraf's powers as president.
The two main coalition parties have also vowed to restore the chief justice of Pakistan and dozens of other judges who were replaced by Musharraf late last year after declaring a state of emergency. However, they have yet to decide how to achieve the goal.
The leaders of both parties last week denied any rifts over plans to reinstate the judges.
On Saturday, Sharif said the judges should be restored before April 30, which he said was a deadline the parties set after he signed an accord with Bhutto's party before joining the coalition government.
Sharif's comments came a day after his top aide Javed Hashmi warned that ministers from their party would quit the Cabinet if the government did not restore the judges.
However, he said his party would remain an ally of the government.
"I pray for the success of the coalition government," he said, adding that his party also wanted to see an end to the interference of the army in politics.
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