AT long last an agreement seems to have been reached between the representatives of the PPP and the PML(N) on the text of the draft resolution for the rehabilitation of the deposed judges. The snail-like movement on the resolution of the issue and the twists and turns witnessed during the attempts to settle the differences spread over more than five weeks have already made many sceptical of the ability of the coalition partners to deal with the momentous matters that lie ahead. Differences on points of law are bound to emerge whenever lawyers are required to argue a case. As the last session of the committee constituted to formulate a resolution ended on Wednesday, there were understandably signs of difference among senior lawyers over the modalities of the restoration. The matter has now been referred to Mr Asif Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif for taking a final decision. The PML(N) chief is already in London while Mr Zardari, accompanied by Federal Interior Advisor Rehman Malik, has also reached there. PML(N) leaders Mian Shahbaz Sharif and Kh Asif, who attended the committee meeting on Wednesday, and Mr Ishaq Dar too, would be available to assist their party chief. The outcome of the meeting is being awaited all over the country with concern. A failure to end the stalemate would be catastrophic. Meanwhile on Wednesday lawyers' organisations held countrywide protests for the restoration of the pre-November 3 judiciary in accordance with the Bhurban Declaration. On Thursday the lawyers again boycotted the courts and staged rallies in support of their demand. They have decided to observe May 12 as Black Day. The SCBA has convened an All-Pakistan Lawyers Conference in Lahore on May 17 where the future line of action would be decided. Any further extension in the final date for the reinstatement of the deposed judges would badly hurt the PML(N) which had made the issue the principal plank of its election campaign. Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has reiterated on the eve of the London talks that it might not remain possible for the PML(N) ministers to remain a part of the cabinet if the judges were not reinstated. The London meeting is taking place just four days ahead of the May 12 deadline for the restoration. A failure on the part of the two leaders to settle the matter in accordance with the Bhurban Declaration would indicate that the coalition simply lacks the will to take vital political decisions and a parting of the ways has become imminent. That would constitute a failure of the widely hailed experiment of cooperation between the two mainstream parties. The way the PPP and the PML-N leaderships have been dealing with the judges' issue it has become a joke. More than a month after the formation of the new government the ruling coalition has not been able to resolve the matter. After two rounds of crucial talks in Dubai, Mian Nawaz and Mr Zardari are now to meet in London along with their aides for a final decision on how to reinstate the deposed judges. They must resolve their differences and try to focus their attention on the issues of governance.