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April 23, 2002
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Tuesday
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Safar 9, 1423
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Referendum: Pirzada vs Shah
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Referendum: an Indian view
Referendum: Pirzada vs Shah
IN the face of two senior lawyers like Hafeez Pirzada (Dawn, April 14) and former Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah (Dawn, April 11) holding diametrically opposing views on the legitimacy of the forthcoming referendum, I will not even attempt any legalistic mumbo jumbo but rather make some commonsensical points.
Firstly, I wish Mr Pirzada had at the outset declared his interest by stating either in the PTV interview or in his article (April 14) that he had already been consulted on this specific issue by the government. Had we been told this I would have taken his views with the fistful of salt normally reserved for statements made by government legal personnel.
Secondly, Mr Pirzada says: “How can a thing (a referendum) be unconstitutional if it is expressly authorized by the Constitution?”. Well it can still be unconstitutional as the Constitution did not envisage a military man seeking an additional five-year term through the device of a refe
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