LAHORE, Oct 11: Lawyers throughout the country will observe a black day on the fifth anniversary of the army take-over on Tuesday (today) to protest against the introduction of 'President to hold another office Act, 2004' bill in the National Assembly.

Black flags will be hoisted on the bar buildings throughout the country. Lawyers will wear black arm bands and hold protest meetings in the bar rooms in accordance with a resolution adopted at the All Pakistan Lawyers Representative Meeting held here on Oct 2 following the adoption of resolutions by the Punjab and Sindh assemblies asking General Pervez Musharraf to continue holding the offices of the president and the chief of the army staff for the next five years.

Describing the introduction of the bill in the National Assembly as an attempt to destroy the 1973 Constitution, Pakistan Bar Council Vice-Chairman Rasheed A Rizvi said in a statement that General Pervez Musharraf was behaving in the same manner as two other generals had done earlier. He said the introduction of the bill had proved that the president could not hold two offices under the constitution.

He said that it was an established fact that the constitution could not be amended through a sub-constitutional legislation. The rulers had tried to cover the deficiency by proving that the new legislation would be valid only for the present holder of the office of the president. He said it was unfortunate that the laws in Pakistan were being made and changed for a particular person.