LAHORE, Oct 25: By taking oath under the Legal Framework Order the members of parliament would virtually be signing the death warrants of the National Assembly itself by conceding to the discretionary powers of the president to dissolve the National and provincial assemblies.

This has been observed in a letter written jointly by the Pakistan Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association to the heads of political parties elected to the parliament on Friday to tell them that by taking oath under the LFO they would be making a mockery of democracy. Copies of the letter were provided to newsmen by PBC executive committee chairman Abdul Haleem Pirzada and SCBA president Hamid Khan at a press conference later.

Referring to the joint declaration adopted at a meeting of the representatives of the political parties and the Bar convened by the PBC at the Lahore High Court on Aug 17, the two organizations urged the political leaders to reject and undo all the amendments made to the 1973 Constitution through the LFO or its subsequent amendments that had subverted the Constitution and undermined the parliamentary system by conferring discretionary powers to dissolve the assemblies, impose an un-elected National Security Council on the body politics of the country and deprive the judiciary of its independence. The credibility of the judiciary had been further undermined by enhancing the retirement age of the judges through an amendment in the LFO.

The two Bar bodies have also urged the MPs-elect to reject the farcical referendum of April 30, and call for election of the president under the Constitution within 30 days of the completion of Senate elections.

Political parties have also been asked to invalidate all the acts and orders of the military regime which have subverted democracy, impaired the electoral process and violated the fundamental rights of the people.

The PBC and the SCBA have also stressed the need for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner and steps for the formation of an independent and impartial election commission.