Islamabad  - Pakistan's ruling coalition leaders were Wednesday meeting in Dubai to break the stalemate over reinstatement of judges deposed by the country's embattled President Pervez Musharraf, party officials said.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the widower of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, Asif Zardari, early last month pledged to restore the judiciary within 30 days of forming their government. The deadline was due to expire Wednesday.

However, a deadlock persists over the manner in which more than 60 judges would be reinstated, as Sharif is firm on their unconditional return whereas Zardari wants to bring in a constitutional package, which is likely to curtail the powers and tenure of ousted chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

"Mr Sharif and Mr Zardari are themselves holding talks and we expect the issue will be resolved today," said Siddiqul Farooq, a spokesman for Sharif's Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PML-N).

Sharif flew to Dubai on Tuesday when the discussions between his PML-N party and Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) came to a dead end, threatening their month-long alliance.

"I sincerely desire that the coalition remains intact," he said before departing from Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore.

Sharif stressed the survival of democracy would become "a dream" if the judges were not reinstated.

The two parties formed the coalition government after they jointly thrashed the political backers of the military-dictator-turned-civilian president in February 18 elections.

The PML-N is under great pressure to honour its commitment since it gained the second position in the parliamentary vote after rallying around the issue of the sacked judges.

"We have the option of quitting the cabinet if the PPP doesn't follow the pledge made to the nation," Farooq said.

On the other hand, PPP leader and information minister Sherry Rehman said her party also wanted the coalition to stay together but for that "the partners must focus on reconciliation."

Analysts says the PPP, which won a majority of seats in the 342-member lower house of parliament, desires to develop a working relationship with Musharraf, who first seized power in 1999 by ousting Sharif's government in a bloodless coup.

Musharraf finally removed the independent-minded judiciary led by Chaudhry on November 3 by declaring emergency amid speculations that it was set to rule against his controversial re-election for a five-year term by the outgoing parliament.

Following the imposition of emergency, the president packed the Supreme Court with handpicked judges, who approved his re-election. But now the restoration of the judges could cloud his political future as the ruling could be revoked by the new Supreme Court.

Similar fears reportedly haunt PPP's leader Zardari, who has benefited from a controversial and extra-judicial amnesty granted to him by Musharraf against graft charges.

The emboldened judges could nullify the presidential order, thus landing the PPP co-chairman again in the dock. (dpa)