Pakistan could face a political crisis if efforts to save the government from collapsing fall through.
Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif is in Dubai trying to resolve a deadlock over the reinstatement of judges in Pakistan.
Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, is discussing the issue with the co-chair of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari, who has a residence in Dubai.
The talks are the first real test for the coalition of the two parties. If talks fail, this could lead to a political crisis.
The deadline for having the judges restored expires on Wednesday, 30 days after the formation of the government.
The PPP won the majority of seats in the parliamentary elections in February, with Sharif’s party coming second.
Previous talks to bring about the judges’ reinstatement failed because the parties could not agree on the degree of power the judges should hold.
The two party heads recently signed an agreement to reinstate dozens of judges who were sacked by President Pervez Musharraf last November.
Musharraf wanted to prevent the Supreme Court from challenging the legality of his re-election.
The PPP wants to link the reinstatement of the judges to a set of reforms that would redefine the powers of the parliament, president, prime minister and top judiciary. Sharif wants the judges restored unconditionally.
Analysts say Zardari is concerned that if Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry is restored, he could challenge an amnesty that Musharraf granted to Zardari and his slain wife Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in December. The pardon allowed them to return to Pakistan last year without fear of facing prosecution on charges of corruption.