Former premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N on Wednesday said that it would finalise its response, to a constitutional reforms package drawn up by its ally Pakistan People's Party to clip the sweeping powers of President Pervez Musharraf [Images], by Thursday.

A committee formed by Sharif to examine the package met for the second time in the day and its chairman Raja Zafrul Haq said the panel had completed reviewing two-thirds of the contents of the package.

The panel expects to conclude its findings when it meets again on Thursday. "The committee will on Thursday complete the task assigned to it and submit a report containing its recommendation to the party high command," Haq said. The
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz received a copy of the draft package from the PPP on Sunday.

Haq said his party would adhere to its stance that dozens of judges sacked by Musharraf during last year's emergency should be restored through a parliamentary resolution, as originally envisaged, in an agreement signed by the PML-N and PPP in March.

However, the PPP has done a U-turn and is now saying that the deposed judges should be reinstated through a constitutional amendment. The move has strained relations between the two key allies in the ruling coalition, who set aside years of bitter rivalry to come together after the February 18 general election threw up a split mandate.

The PML-N has also objected to a provision in the package that aims to indemnify some of the actions taken by Musharraf during the emergency.

Meanwhile, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar has said that he does not see the deposed judges being restored before the budget is passed by the parliament later this month.

Work will be done on the constitutional reforms package and it will be presented in the National Assembly after the passage of the budget, he said.

The PPP and the PML-N have also decided to set up a joint committee to resolve their differences on the package, which seeks to strip the President of his powers to appoint the service chiefs and to dismiss the parliament.

This joint committee is expected to meet once the PML-N finalises its response to the package.

Babar said the PPP would play its due role in Shahbaz Sharif's election as Chief Minister of Punjab following his election to the provincial assembly. The PPP is a member of the ruling coalition in Punjab and would support its ally in the province, he said.