August 13, 2008	Wednesday	Sha’aban 10, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 12: Former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Munir A. Malik has said that lawyers will neither take any step that may strengthen the dictatorial regime nor withdraw their demand for the independence of the judiciary.

Speaking at a seminar titled, “Deepening democracy: towards an independent judiciary and sovereign parliament”, organised by the Women’s Action Forum on Tuesday, Mr Malik was not optimistic about the ruling coalition’s plan to impeach President Pervez Musharraf and restore the independent judiciary.

Other participants of the seminar also pointed the finger at the ruling coalition for linking the restoration of deposed judges with the successful impeachment of President Musharraf. Many speakers were of the view that the rulers should have restored the judiciary first through an executive order and later opted for the impeachment process.

Mr Malik maintained that President Musharraf’s impeachment was also on the agenda of lawyers’ struggle.

“We support the impeachment and we would also support the parliament in case he [the president] uses 58-2B. Our strategy includes support of the impeachment and to remind [the coalition] about the restoration of the deposed judges,” he added.

He said the democratic forces should not be short-sighted. Had they restored the independent judiciary, courts would have defended parliament and democracy from any threat.

He was of the view that any delay in the impeachment process would have a negative impact on its momentum.

Another lawyer, Zain Shaikh, felt that the ruling coalition should not include charges of corruption or other guilt in the charge-sheet against President Musharraf.