MULTAN, June 10: Regretting the blockade of Islamabad roads, Supreme Court Bar Association President Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan said on Tuesday that PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari had promised to allow freedom of movement to lawyers during the ‘long march’.

“The lawyers will not react violently to such tactics. They will remain peaceful but they will not rest until reinstatement of the deposed judges,” he told a news conference here. He said the blocking of roads showed the government was in panic.

He said the long march would head towards the Parliament House because now parliament, and not the fragile president, was a hurdle to restoration of the judiciary. “President Musharraf is too week to play any role. He is already on his way out. It is parliament which will have to play its role now,” Mr Ahsan said.

Avoiding any direct attack on the PPP-led coalition government, the SCBA chief said so far parliament had disappointed the people.

Earlier, talking to newsmen at Lahore airport, Mr Ahsan said the legal community would celebrate Musharraf’s ouster, but it was necessary to build pressure on parliament for reinstatement of the deposed judges.