01 March 2004	Monday	09 Muharram 1425

LAHORE, Feb 29: The victory of Ahmad Awais in the Lahore High Court bar elections on Saturday has once again established that the lawyers' community, as a whole, continues to be anti-establishment in its bent of mind.

The community stood politicized when the crunch came although it looked in the beginning of the election process five to six months ago that it was the caste and clan factor which dominated more than any other consideration for the LHCBA vote.

It was, thus, a shift of the focus from the biradrism to political consideration that made the qualitative difference. And the man who made it possible is former Supreme Court Bar Association president Hamid Khan who pulled the electoral tide in his favour through a strategy which was blended with aggression.

Otherwise known for his mild disposition, Hamid Khan chose to attack the opposition, forcing it to play on a difficult wicket. Khwaja Saeeduz Zafar was, by no means, a weak candidate but he fell prey to the new Hamid Khan strategy.

One moment which might have changed fortunes was Hamid Khan's news conference on Feb 25 in which he claimed Mr Zafar had never participated in any democratic movement of the lawyers in the past. Then the ARD's support was also made an issue which ultimately brewed a controversy benefiting Ahmad Awais.

Mr Zafar is a capable lawyer but is no way a political man. He started off well focusing on the fineness of legal professionalism, but he went off track to tread a path alien to him.

The driving force in his new stance were his friends from the ARD. He chose to rebut Hamid Khan's allegations the following day and came out with an assertion that he had been in the forefront of various lawyers' movements.

He also allowed himself to be dragged into the ARD support controversy. Zafar did not either listen to Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf Wahla who mildly gestured at Zafar's news conference that professionalism was the main focus of his support for the Khwaja. Instead, Zafar was seen riding high on the assertions made by his ARD friends.

As for the ARD following in the Lahore High Court bar, it does not seem to be a significant factor. Its main components -- the PPP and the PML-N -- are badly fragmented in the bar politics and do not, at all, carry any weight to play an effective role in deciding the elections.

For example, the PPP-sponsored lawyers forum, PLF, has no less than four groups whereas the PML-N has lost its numerical strength under the circumstances.

If at all any political organization carries a weight in the bar it is the Jamaat-i-Islami whose members have never differed with the leadership. This time, too, all JI lawyers were under a direction to vote for Ahmad Awais for president but were free to make their own choice for other offices. No wonder if the Jamaat has been the deciding factor because they certainly have a number equivalent to Awais' margin of victory (223 votes).

Another reason of Zafar's defeat is a general impression successfully created by the Hamid Khan camp that Zafar is a pro-government candidate. Together with Kazim Khan and Hafiz Abdur Rehman Ansari, the Hamid Khan group managed to launch an offensive to send home a message that this was a contest between the pro and anti-government forces. The community reacted accordingly.

The Hamid Khan group which seemed disintegrating towards the end of 2003 gathered its potential during the election process and proved that it is a force to be reckoned with. And its reunion with the Chaudhry Ashraf Wahla faction will lend it more strength in future.