ISLAMABAD, 26 August 2007 — Pakistan’s law minister, responsible for a botched attempt to fire Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, has been replaced in Cabinet reshuffle, sources said.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has changed the portfolio of Wasi Zafar and made him the minister of privatization.
Opposition parties have been demanding the removal of Zafar since March, when President Pervez Musharraf filed charges of misconduct against Chaudhry.
The Supreme Court dismissed the charges in July and reinstated Chaudhry, in a reversal that has damaged Musharraf’s standing at home and abroad. Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani said Zafar was swapping positions with Zahid Hamid, the minister for privatization.
He gave no reason for the changes.
The government is seeking to normalize relations with the court, which may have to rule later this year on whether Musharraf can stand this fall for a new five-year term as president.
The attempt to fire Chaudhry galvanized opposition to military rule and left Musharraf facing the first major test of his authority since he seized power in a 1999 coup.
