ISLAMABAD, Oct 16: An opposition leader and supporters of lawyers’ movement here on Tuesday rejected the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) as unconstitutional and said it provided for condoning corruption by a specific class in violation of the principle of equality enshrined in the constitution.

“The ordinance violates the equality clause contained in article 25 of the constitution,” they said while speaking at a seminar “National Reconciliation Ordinance” organised by Pakistan Liberal Forum.

The speakers regretted that the ordinance was promulgated only a day prior to a parliament session.

Speaking on the occasion, Justice (retired) Wajihuddin Ahmed termed the NRO a symptom of the disease the country’s body politic was suffering from. “The disease is that we have ceased to live as a nation on the basis of principles,” he noted.

He said the power to promulgate ordinances should be taken away from the president and governors. He was of the view that courts had the power to strike down an ordinance if the ground realities did not justify its promulgation. He said he was at a loss to understand as to why the hearing of the petitions challenging the so-called National Reconciliation Ordinance was put off for three long weeks.

“It is an important matter as it involves the question of fundamental rights,” he remarked.

He said a full court should hear the petitions challenging holding of dual offices by General Pervez Musharraf and presidential elections by the outgoing assemblies in view of its far-reaching implications.

He, however, said Chief Justice iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry should not be part of the full court in view of the chain of events which led to an unprecedented judicial crisis in the country.

He said the judges must decide cases purely according to the law and the constitution. “The entire civil society should rise and point out to the judges what is right and what is wrong without interfering with the judicial process,” Justice Ahmed said. He said it was essential to counter and neutralise any pressure on the judiciary.

Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan criticised Gen Musharraf for promulgating the National Reconciliation Ordinance saying it was an unfair law that provided protection to criminals and plunderers of a selective class.

He said the commander-in-chief of the armed forces cannot contest any election. He said even the parliament cannot allow him to do so by passing a law against the spirit of the 1973 constitution. “We want supremacy of the constitution and not the doctrine of necessity. We do not want to influence the courts but want to express our solidarity with them,” he stressed.

He also castigated the government for killing its own people in Waziristan. He said it was a folly to turn one million armed tribal people into enemies for the sake of two to three thousand Al Qaeda men. He said use of force was not a solution and the path of dialogue should be adopted for it. “Gen Musharraf instead of promulgating NRO should have thought about reconciliation in Waziristan and Balochistan,” he remarked.

He said the presidential elections had exposed the people who were in the opposition but were supporting military dictatorship. “Now there will be a smaller but genuine opposition which would not compromise with the military establishment at any cost,” he added.

Pakistan Liberal Forum chairman Asif Khan termed NRO the blackest law. He said there was no room for completely erasing a guilt under any law. He said the NRO was undemocratic and unconstitutional.

Advocate Hamid Khan and former bureaucrat Roedad Khan expressed optimism about future of democracy in Pakistan and said there was a clear division between pro-Musharraf and democratic forces now.