PESHAWAR, April 19: The Awami National Party has said that it will warmly receive Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to the city where he is scheduled to administer oath to new cabinet of the High Court Bar Association on April 21.

In a statement issued from the Bacha Khan Markaz on Thursday, ANP’s provincial secretary-general Mian Iftikhar Hussain said Justice Chaudhry had upheld the dignity of the superior judiciary by not resigning from his post.

He said that the ANP would keep alive its tradition of struggling for the restoration of democracy.

He said the president’s act against the chief justice was unwarranted and uncalled for.

The ANP leader said that holding of free and fair elections under an independent election commission and handing over power to elected representatives was the only solution to the present crisis.

He demanded that the army should go back to the barracks and people’s representatives be empowered to run the country’s affairs.

He said that the ANP had thrown its weight behind lawyers in their struggle against the government.

He said that the party would continue supporting Mr Chaudhry in his struggle for the supremacy of the judiciary.