March 1, 2003	Saturday	Zul Hijjah 27, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: Members of opposition parties and leaders of the Bar vowed on Friday to resist moves of the government to make Legal Framework Order as part of the Constitution without its validation from parliament.

The opposition leaders, including Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Syed Zafar Ali Shah of PML-N and a number of other politicians attended a meeting arranged by Bar leaders led by Hamid Khan, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

No representative of Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians attended the meeting of the Bar.

It was agreed that members of parliament and the Bar at their respective forums would resist the moves to make LFO as part of the Constitution without validation from parliament.

They said they would not recognize Gen Pervez Musharraf by virtue of his referendum, his powers to dissolve National Assembly, his becoming the head of NSC and three years’ extension in the retirement age of superior court judges.

Mr Hamid Khan, President of the SCBA, flanked by Bar leaders representing the Pakistan Bar Council, LHC Bar Association, SHC Bar Association, BHC and Peshawar High Court Bar Associations, said that politicians, before the general elections, had made a pledge with representatives of the Bar on Aug 17, 2002, that after coming to parliament they would oppose the LFO.

He said now when parliament had come into existence, the Bar representatives wanted them to act upon their promises.

Mr Hamid Khan said the legal fraternity was of the view that parliament should elect the president under the constitutional mechanism and election of the president was not possible through referendum.

He further stated that legal fraternity was of the view that vesting discretionary powers in the hands of the president to dissolve the National Assembly, was harmful for democracy and the Bar had condemned such efforts.

He said the Bar was also opposed to the idea of the NSC as it believed that parliament was the supreme institution. He said the military government which was given three years by the courts, reciprocated by extending the retirement age limit of all judges to three years across the board.

He said the extension in the retirement age was not part of the constitutional package and was announced at midnight on Oct 10.

Mr Hamid Khan said that the legal fraternity had no objection to the increase in seats of parliament, reduction of voting age and increase in the number of seats for women through the LFO.

MNA Qazi Hussain Ahmad said the MMA would honour its pledge which it had made with the Bar on Aug 17.

The MMA was of the view that the LFO could not be considered as part of the constitution unless it was validated by parliament with two-thirds majority, he added.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that MMA had refused to budge from its stance on the LFO and that was why it was on the opposition benches. He said the judges by accepting three years’ extension in their retirement age, had accepted the bribe of the worst kind.

Syed Zafar Ali Shah lauded the role of the Bar leaders for their stance on constitutional issues and said his party would give full support to such efforts.

PKMAP Mehmood Khan Achakzai said the army had no role in politics and if it insisted on having a role in politics, it would not augur well for the integrity of the country.