June 25, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 20, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 24: Senior members of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Tuesday expressed their regrets that the final decision on ending the long march without staging a sit-in near the parliament was the result of faulty and ineffective communication by the bar leadership.

Defending their hotly debated decision to terminate the long march without staging a sit-in, PBC executive committee chairman Rasheed A. Razvi and members Hamid Khan and Mohammad Kazim

Khan said the culmination of the massive gathering was in good faith and in the best interest of the lawyers’ ongoing movement.

The PBC members said the entire leadership of the lawyers’ movement stood united and pledged to redouble their efforts for the attainment of the objective of getting judges reinstated.

The statement said a number of participants of the long march expected it to culminate in a “dharna”.

“Their emotions and commitment to the cause are truly admirable and their vigour provides the fuel to the entire movement,” they said.

“The long march was an event on an epic and unprecedented scale and some organisational lapses were inevitable.

“We also acknowledge that there could be two equally valid and sincere schools of thought about the merits and demerits of holding a dharna,” the statement said.

“The long march was a clarion call by the people of Pakistan, once again reminding the political leadership of their promises and their sacred duty under the mandate granted to them in the Feb 18 elections,” they said.