The decision in this regard will be taken in the largest interest of the Constitution, democracy, independence of judiciary and the rule of law, he added.

Gilani, who is also Senior Vice chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), in a statement dismissed the media reports that the party and its allies were "double minded" as contrary to the facts.

He said that the decision would be taken in consultation with the coalition partners.

He said that separation of powers as defined in the Constitution must be adhered to by all the three arms of the government, executive, legislature and judiciary, which would keep the democratic process on track.

However, he warned that any fiddling due to the "self- righteous narrative of activism will push it over the cliff with consequences that the country and the people cannot afford."

"The prognosis of the clash of institutions hunts all Pakistanis, but the imperatives of federation and the democracy should guide our judgement," he said.

The former prime minister said the PPP and the coalition government held judiciary in the highest esteem.

He said that the political parties, lawyers, media, civil society and human rights organizations had launched an arduous campaign for the restoration of the judiciary sacked by President Musharraf.

He said that the restoration of the judiciary during his premiership was the culmination of the aspirations of the people for rule of law, provision of quick and inexpensive justice, restoration of fundamental rights and rejection of dictatorship in its entirety.

Syed  Yousuf Raza Gilani said there was no substitute to democracy because of its universal relevance, acceptability within the country and respectability internationally.

On the other hand, dictatorship and its perpetrators were abhorred by the people because they deny them fundamental rights and are labeled as usurpers by the international community, he added.

The former prime minister reminded that the nation had to face the 1971 debacle in East Pakistan largely due to the `Doctrine of Necessity" in Maulvi Tamizuddin's case. The country would have been still the country of the Quaid if the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly by the then Governor General had been adjudged as unconstitutional and illegal, he added.

Gilani said that the federation was at a critical juncture and termed it a "defining period" of history. He said that right decisions would consolidate the democracy and put the country on the trajectory of peace, prosperity and freedom.