July 16, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 5, 1423

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SUKKUR, July 15: Rejecting the packages of amendments to the Constitution, proposed by the government, lawyers in this district observed strike and stayed away from all the courts on Monday. The call for the nationwide strike was given by the All Pakistan Lawyers’ Representative Conference.

A meeting of the Sindh High Court Bar Association, held at the Bar’s office here under the chairmanship of Liaquat Shar, declared that no individual or institution had any authority to bring about amendments to the Constitution and that an elected parliament only could make such an amendment.

The meeting discussed in detail the July 12 address to the nation of President Gen Musharraf and adopted a unanimous resolution declaring that the 1973 Constitution was a sacred and legal political document based on the consensus of all the political parties and elements in the country.

The resolution was distributed among all the lawyers and newsmen who were present at the meeting. The meeting warned that ‘tampering with the Constitution by any individual’ would have disastrous consequences for the country.

The Bar was of the view that the armed forces and their leadership had an exclusive task of defending the country. They should refrain from meddling in the constitutional and political affairs, it added.

In its resolution, the Bar said that the government had no authority even to propose or offer a package of constitutional amendments.

The amendments, if carried out, would lead to an oppressive dictatorial presidential system in the country and deprive the nation of a directly elected president, it said.

In another resolution, the lawyers termed the proposed amendments ‘anti-democratic and pro-authoritarian’. They said that all the elected institutions and their heads were proposed to become subordinates to an unelected president or the so-called National Security Council.

The other resolutions, adopted by the Bar, said that the amendments, if brought about, would do away with the federal parliamentary system and change the basis of the Constitution, which is federal and parliamentary.

The Bar said that the move would render the premier and his cabinet without any powers and they would become puppets strings of which would be in the hands of the president and the NSC.

Provincial assemblies and governments would also be at the mercy of the president, it said.

It cautioned that the move would result in repeated Constitutional crises and a constant political instability in the country.

It rejected the dominance of an undemocratic NSC over the democratically elected bodies.

The Bar demanded an immediate withdrawal of the proposed amendment packages and holding of free, fair and transparent elections by an independent election commission.

It condemned the Political Parties Order 2002 saying that it was aimed at victimizing opponent political parties.

Our Mirpurkhas Correspondent adds: A complete strike was observed by the lawyers on Monday to protest against the constitutional amendment package.

A meeting of the Mirpurkhas Bar Association was held which was presided over by its president, Shamsuddin Shaikh.

The meeting unanimously rejected the constitutional amendment package saying that it would change the entire Constitution of 1973.

It demanded the government to recall the constitutional amendment package in the interest of the country as well as democracy.

Our Naushahro Feroze correspondent adds: The lawyers of Naushahro Feroze boycotted court proceedings on Monday to protest against the constitutional amendment package.

Talking to newsmen, Advocate Ghulam Mohammed Abbasi, member Sindh Council, said it was an injustice to disqualify their leader over false cases.

He condemned the constitutional amendments’ package saying that the parliament was the only authority to make amendments in the Constitution.

Our Hyderabad bureau adds: The Hyderabad District Bar Association at a meeting held here on Monday opposed the government package of proposed constitutional amendments, saying they were not acceptable to the lawyers’ community.

The lawyers also boycotted the courts on the call of the Pakistan Bar Council.