0
KARACHI, March 12: The Pakistan People’s Party has summoned an emergency meeting of its Central Executive Committee and Federal Council on Tuesday (March 13) to discuss the situation arising out of the suspension of Mr Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry as Chief Justice of Pakistan and filing of presidential reference against him.
The CEC meeting, to be held at Bilawal House, will be presided over by PPP Vice-Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
Deputy Secretary-General Mian Raza Rabbani said that the meeting was being convened on the directive of party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto though she would not address the meeting. However, sources believed she might make a brief address.
Party sources said that CEC members from across the country, Azad Kashmir and FATA would be attending the meeting.
The sources said that Ms Bhutto, currently in US, was in constant touch with the party leaders in Pakistan and getting minute-to-minute update of the situation prevailing in the country.
The party’s Information Secretary, Sherry Rehman, said that the meeting would hold deliberations on the current political situation and the judicial crisis. She said the issue of multi-party conference (MPC), to be held in London, would not come under discussion at the CEC meeting as everything, including the agenda and the names of PPP delegates, had been finalised.
OPEN TRIAL: Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani has supported the demand for an open trial of the suspended Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, saying that this would ensure transparency of the proceedings of the reference filed against him.
Speaking at a press conference here on Monday, he strongly condemned the General Pervez Musharraf’s act of filing the reference, and said that due to the ‘mala fide’ action, Pakistan was facing a serious constitutional and institutional crisis.
“We favour across the board accountability of judiciary, executive, military and civil bureaucracy and all other institutions, but we strongly condemn the double-standards in this regard and feel that it is an exercise with mala fide intent,” he observed.
Mian Rabbani said people of Pakistan wanted to know that why the charges levelled against the CJP were not made public. He said the regime did not even wait for the senior-most judge, Mr Justice Rana Bhagwandas, to return home and this also made the whole process doubtful.
He said through this reference, the government wanted to send a message to the judiciary, which was supposed to take up many important issues, including the president’s uniform and his re-election.
He condemned the alleged ‘detention’ of the suspended CJP and supported t an open trial as demanded by Justice Chaudhry during his meeting with Air Marshal (r) Asghar Khan.
Mr Rabbani, who is also the deputy secretary general of PPP, also condemned the police action when lawyers, protesting against General Musharraf’s move, tried to take out a rally and march towards the Punjab Assembly. “It was a worst example of state terrorism,” he remarked.
In reply to a question, the Senator said that the Article 209 or any other provision of the Constitution did not empower a president or army chief to strip a CJP of his constitutional status.
