ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) urged the government on Friday to immediately call a joint session of the two houses of parliament to discuss the prevailing political situation.

A meeting of the SCBA presided over by its president Kamran Murtaza at the Supreme Court building also asked the government to revoke the invocation of Article 245 of the Constitution under which the armed forces had been summoned in the federal capital.

The meeting expressed the hope that the government would desist from arresting and detaining political workers and sealing road networks by placing containers.

It expressed the fear that the fruit of democracy achieved through a long and epic struggle of lawyers, civil society and political parties was slipping out of hand through sit-ins, demonstrations and protest rallies and, therefore, they should be avoided at all cost.

“The situation demands maturity on part of all political parties,” the SCBA said and asked the president to play his due role to unite all parties by taking the political issue in his hand instead of keeping quiet.

Published in Dawn, Aug 9th, 2014