Islamabad  - Former prime minister and the chief of the second-largest party in Pakistan's ruling coalition Nawaz Sharif on Friday pushed forward a deadline for the reinstatement of judges sacked by former president Pervez Musharraf to Wednesday.

The announcement, which came after three of days of reconciliatory efforts by the alliance's junior partners, temporarily saved the coalition led by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which was previously headed by assassinated ex-premier Benazir Bhutto.

Sharif had earlier said that his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party would pull out of the coalition if the judges, including deposed Chief Justice Chaudhry Iftikhar, were not restored by Friday. (dpa)