UPDATE (10:58pm ET): Text (in Urdu and English) and video of PM Gilani's speech now available online. Gilani announced that Chief Justice Chaudhry would be restored to his position following the retirement of Abdul Hameed Dogar on March 21, and that provincial governments have been asked to lift the emergency measures imposed earlier this week under Section 144. Gilani also announced that the government would request the Supreme Court to review the decision holding Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif ineligible for public office.
No details were given about the "constitutional package" that reportedly was to accompany Chaudhry's restoration. Some links to early coverage:
In consultation with Nawaz Sharif, Aitzaz Ahsan and other leaders in the lawyers' movement have reportedly postponed the Long March for the time being. However, another leader in the lawyers' movement, the Chief Justice's spokesperson Athar Minallah, responded cautiously, stating that the Long March would end only when the Chief Justice "takes his place in courtroom number one" in the Supreme Court building and warning the government against curtailing Chaudhry's constitutional term of office, which is not scheduled to end until 2013.
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UPDATE (8:50pm ET): PM Gilani's speech now beginning. Live streams below, and live discussion at Chapati Mystery.
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UPDATE (7:56pm ET): Join a live discussion on Gilani's speech at Chapati Mystery at 8pm ET.
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![Chief-justice-iftikhar2-300x295[1]](http://www.kalhan.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/chief-justice-iftikhar2-300x295.jpg "Chief-justice-iftikhar2-300x295[1]")
Via Reuters (and Sadia Abbas), some breaking news from Pakistan:
The Pakistan government agreed on Monday to reinstate Iftikhar Chaudhry as Supreme Court chief justice to end a political crisis that has gripped the Muslim nation, a government official said.
The official added that a constitutional package would also be presented.
President Asif Ali Zardari had hitherto stonewalled calls from the opposition led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and a lawyers' movement to restore the judge.
Chaudhry was dismissed in late 2007 by then-president and army chief Pervez Musharraf, but Zardari regarded the judge as too politicized and feared he could pose a threat to his own presidency if restored. [link]
No solid confirmation as yet, but Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is scheduled to address the nation shortly.
Watch a live stream from Samaa TV here:
Some links to other Pakistani television news streams:
For updates, see Twitter and the live update feed from Teeth Maestro. Here's a screenshot of Teeth Maestro's update feed from earlier this evening (via Chapati Mystery):
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