ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: Lawyers on Tuesday vowed to continue their struggle against the “uniformed president,” and accused the judiciary of colluding with the military ruler.
Speaking at a convention near the parliament house here, lawyers said President Pervez Musharraf had no authority to amend the Constitution.
They said the premise that the Supreme Court vested the military ruler with legislative power could not be accepted as the Constitution gave no such power to the judiciary itself. When the judiciary itself had no power to amend the Constitution, how could it allow such powers to any individual, they asked.
Earlier, lawyers were not allowed to enter the Supreme Court premises to hold their convention. Led by Supreme Court Bar Association President Hamid Khan and Pakistan Bar Council Vice-Chairman Qazi Anwar, a lawyers rally was stopped by heavy contingents of police at the Parade Chowk where they held their convention.
Tehrik-i-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan and PKMAP President Mehmood Khan Achakzai also attended the lawyers meeting, and extended their support to lawyers in their struggle for the revival of the Constitution.
The lawyers were holding placards inscribed with slogans like “LFO not acceptable,” “Uniformed president not acceptable,” “Liberate the judiciary,” and “LFO negates supremacy of the Constitution.”
They said judges should also be tried on treason charges under Article 6 for cooperating with military rulers in subverting the Constitution.
Lawyers claimed that the judiciary was totally subjugated to the government and raising any matter of constitutional importance with its “present composition” was a futile exercise as it had validated all the actions taken by the military regime since October 12, 1999.
They said the Constitution barred a government servant from contesting elections and Gen Pervez Musharraf being a government servant could not be given exemption.
They said a person who was not qualified to contest election would not be accepted as the president of the country.
The lawyers said they would continue their protest against the LFO till the Constitution was revived as it stood before October 12, 1999.
The meeting was addressed by Hamid Khan, Qazi Mohammad Anwar, Lahore High Court Bar Association President Hafiz Abdur Rehman Ansari, Sindh High Court Bar Association President Munir Malik, Karachi Bar Association President Mohammad Ali Abbasi and others.
Imran Khan in his speech paid tribute to the lawyers for their struggle.
He said no country could progress without strengthening its institutions.
He said opposition parties had failed to convince the people that the LFO was directly linked to the development of the country.
ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: Lawyers on Tuesday vowed to continue their struggle against the “uniformed president,” and accused the judiciary of colluding with the military ruler.
