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| December 23, 2002 | Monday | Shawwal 18, 1423 |
MMA, PML-N assure Bar of support for democracy
ISLAMABAD, Dec 22: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) has assured the lawyers community that it would continue opposing the amendments to the Constitution under the LFO, establishment of the National Security Council (NSC) and enhancement of the retirement age for the judges of superior judiciary.
Various lawyer bodies had unanimously written to all the political parties which had won elections, requesting them to reject and help undo all the amendments in the Constitution, imposed through the Legal Framework Order (LFO); establishment of the NSC and decisions of the military government about the judiciary.
Hamid Khan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), told Dawn on Sunday that the PML-N had formally responded to the request and assured that it would continue raising its voice against all these issues.
The president said the MMA had also conveyed verbally to the Bar that it fully supported their stand.
Though the Peoples Party Parliamentarians had not made its stance known to the Bar, Hamid Khan said, a number of its leaders had said their party supported the Bar’s demand. They did not seem to make any firm commitment, in writing or verbally.
Lawyers representative bodies— Pakistan Bar Council, Supreme Court Bar Association, and high court bar associations— had taken a unanimous stand on the validation of military rule, grant of legislative power to a military ruler, holding of referendum by the military ruler to get himself elected president and appointment of judges by him.
Chairman of the Executive Committee of Pakistan Bar Council, Abdul Haleem Pirzada, and Hamid Khan, president of the SCBA, had written to the newly-elected legislators to “reject and undo all amendments in the Constitution imposed through the LFO or its subsequent amendments that have subverted the Constitution; undermined federal parliamentary democracy by conferring discretionary powers to dissolve the National Assembly and provincial assemblies; imposed unelected body like the NSC on the body politic of Pakistan and deprived the judiciary of its independence.”
The lawyer leaders had also pointed out to the legislators that the credibility of judiciary had been further undermined by enhancing the age of retirement of its members through an amendment in the controversial LFO, thus disturbing settled constitutional matter of retirement age.
They demanded the legislators to “reject the referendum of April 30, 2002, and call for elections of the president under the Constitution within 30 days of the Senate elections.”
The legislators were asked to invalidate those acts and orders of the outgoing military regime which had subverted democracy, impaired electoral process and violated the fundamental rights of Pakistanis.
The lawyer’s fraternity also demanded that the sitting chief election commissioner should be removed and steps be taken for the formation of an independent election commission.
The Bar had decided not to take any issue of public importance before the judiciary as, according to them, in view of the oath taken under the PCO and the verdicts upholding the various orders and acts of the present military regime, the judiciary had ceased to be independent.
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