September 23, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 10, 1428

LAHORE, Sept 22: The All Pakistan Lawyers’ Representatives Conference has urged all political parties to resign from assemblies in order to block what it called illegal and unconstitutional attempt by President Gen Pervez Musharraf to seek re-election for the president’s office.

The conference was held at the Karachi Shuhada Hall of the Lahore High Court Bar Assocaiton (LHCBA), which had organised the event to set agenda for the second phase of lawyers’ movement.

The lawyers, declaring Gen Musharraf “unacceptable with or without uniform”, vowed to stand united during course of the movement for the restoration of democracy.

They decided to observe a black day and a complete boycott of court proceedings on Oct 6 if Musharraf’s re-election was held on that day. In case the Supreme Court decided against the candidature of Gen Musharraf, the lawyers would hold celebrations on Oct 6, the conference resolved.

The speakers, including Ahsan Bhoon, LHCBA president and Hamid Khan, Pakistan Bar Council member, laid a strong emphasis on unity of the lawyers for making the movement a success.

Speaking on the occasion, Hamid Khan said the lawyers’ movement could determine the outcome of the grave crisis the country was experiencing at the moment. “The next couple of weeks would determine whether the country would see the rule of the Constitution or the generals,” he said.

“By the Grace of God, the constitution would reign supreme and the rulers would be looking for ways to run away from the country,” he said. The lawyers would have to serve as a bulwark against the regime’s atrocities including the ruthless assaults on the people of Pakistan, he said.

The lawyers would have to stand united for the redemption of the nation and the state from the clutches of a dictatorship, he said. Hamid added Karachi lawyers deserved laurels for standing defiant in the face of what he termed worst state highhandedness.

He criticised forcible deportation of Nawaz Sharif and lashed out at the MQM for `storming’ the building of the Sindh High Court.

PBC member Sardar Latif Khan Khosa said the participation of doctors, teachers, students and members of public in the lawyers’ movement was an indication of a visible change. He said through the movement, the judiciary had ensured its security and privacy.

“But we want to make clear that our struggle had been for a vital cause. The one which pertains to the rule of law and the supremacy of the people of Pakistan,” Khosa said. The lawyers should not go ahead with the idea of pitching a candidate against Gen Musharraf because it amounted to lending legitimacy to the process of election through the current assemblies, he added.

He asked lawyers’ representatives not to issue statements which could spark controversies among the community.

LHCBA president Ahsan Bhoon appealed to the National Action Committee, formed for steering the lawyers’ movement for independence of judiciary, to consult chiefs of provincial bars before chalking out any agenda for the second phase.

Bhoon said the rulers would succeed in dividing the movement if lawyers allowed differences to prevail among their ranks. He said the amendment to rules on presidential election by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) showed that its working was not impartial.

The resolution carried by the conference states: “That the ECP, by amending the rules relating to the Presidential Election has shown its subservience to General Pervez Musharraf and lost legitimacy to act as an independent constitutional body responsible for arranging free and fair elections in the country.”

“The ECP has no authority to oust any provision of the Constition as its Rule framing/amending authority extended the procedural matters towards facilitating the electoral process only. Thus the Commission should be replaced by independent former Judges of the Supreme Court, who refused oath under the PCO,” the resolution demanded.

The resolution said: “The schedule of the presidential election issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan is Ultra Vires of the Constitution as the present assemblies, which have almost completed their tenure, having once exercised their vote of confidence in favour of the incumbent General Pervez Musharraf giving him legitimacy in office for years cannot be conferred with the power to elect a president for another term because it would be tantamount to pre-emption of the rights of the incoming assemblies.”

“The president in uniform is a negation of the ethos of the Constitution and repugnant to the true meaning of democracy. His run for the office of the President being wholly illegal, the lawyers community in Paksitan will observe a black day, boycott court proceedings, hold meetings and take out processions on the September 27, the day he submitted his nomination papers before the ECP,” the resolution said.

The resolution demanded all members of the assemblies resign forthwith in order to block the illegal and unconstitutional attempt by General Pervez Musharraf to seek re-election from the present assemblies. It said no member of a political party as well as of the lawyers’ community should contest for the office of the president because it would confer legitimacy to the presidential elections.

It also demanded that Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif should be allowed to return to Pakistan and all political cases against them be withdrawn so they could take part in the elections.

It condemned the killings of innocent people in Karachi on May 12, and the recent storming of the Singh High Court, when it was hearing the contempt proceedings.

Syed Muhammad Shah, President, Lahore Bar Association, Inayatullah, member, Sindh Bar Council, Naveed Inayat Malik, Sardar Khurram Khan Khosa, members, Punjab Bar Council, Ahmad Awais, former president, LHCBA, Amin Javed, former member, SCBA, Akbar Khan, President, Narowal DBA and Muhammad Amjad Farooq, President Kasur DBA also spoke on the occasion. Sahibzada Anwar Hameed, Vice-President SCBA, Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari, Secretary, SCBA, Azam Nazir Tarar, former secretary, LHCBA and Abid Saqi, former secretary, LHCBA, were also present.