LAHORE, April 20: Former chief justice of Pakistan Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, supporting the consistent demand for the establishment of a caretaker government and an independent election commission in consultation with opposition parties to ensure free and fair elections, said here on Friday that during the tenure of such a setup President Musharraf should have no role to play at all.

He endorsed as “justified and reasonable” calls for the return home and participation of the exiled former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif in the elections, saying: “The election process cannot be free, fair and transparent if head of any political party is prevented from taking part in the election campaign or not allowed to take part in the election process.”

These views were expressed by the former chief judge, who had refused to take oath under the PCO after Gen Musharraf overthrew the PML government in October 1999, while addressing a seminar on “Constitutional Crisis in Pakistan”, organized by a PPP think-tank headed by secretary-general Jehangir Badr.

Justice Siddiqui said the president’s address to public meetings, arranged by a party created at his behest, and asking the people to vote for the parties which supported him was “negation of the basic law of the country and high tradition attached to the office of the COAS and (the) president of Pakistan”.

Former diplomats, top bureaucrats, judges, political analysts, lawyers, legislators and people belonging to some other walks of life were either among speakers or audience.

About the current constitutional crisis which arose out of a reference against the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Siddiqui said it had its roots in the past history of the country.

“It has, however, assumed much larger dimensions on account of resolve and resistance shown by the legal fraternity to protect and preserve the independence of the judiciary. It is no longer confined to the action against an individual”.

The action, the former CJP said, was generally perceived as an onslaught on a vital pillar of the state - the judiciary - which is charged with the duty to protect the rights of individuals guaranteed under the Constitution and to keep a check on the transgression of the constitutional parameters by state functionaries.

The common man, Justice Siddiqui said, was wondering if the Chief Justice of Pakistan could be treated in a humiliating manner by the functionaries of the state, what safeguards would be available to them against any excesses.

The crisis was snowballing by the day, he said, adding that a debate was going on in the press whether the right to govern lay with the elected representatives of the people or the armed forces. Many analysts, he said, were of the view that all constitutional problems stemmed out of the role the army had given itself in the civil and political affairs. “With the passage of time as the role of the army increased in the civilian affairs the strength of the political parties weakened and politicians instead of resisting this encroachment preferred to play a second fiddle to the army in the governance, paving the way for the dislodging of the civilian governments on trumped charges of corruption”.

The current crisis, he said, had acquired greater importance as the next elections due in the near future were considered vital for the survival of democracy. He pointed out that the opposition parties had said it time and again that they did not expect free and fair polls under the supervision of the present rulers and had also threatened to boycott them if the present setup remained in place.

“This development doesn’t augur well for the future of democracy in the country”.

Former Lahore High Court Bar president Ahmed Owais said the Supreme Court should have issued notice to Gen Musharraf under Article 6 for subverting the Constitution on the day he had sacked Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. But, he regretted, that instead of taking such a step a judge of the apex court administered oath to the other.

He said Justice Chaudhry had become a rallying point and the lawyers’ movement would continue till the restoration of the rule of law.

As for the reference against the CJP, Ahmed Owais said Article 209 of the Constitution appeared ambiguous and perhaps it had not visualized a situation in which the chief judge could also be proceeded against. The entire Supreme Court should look into the matter, he said.

Supreme Court Bar Secretary Syed Zulfikar Bukhari said political parties and civil society should also work for the rule of law, as was being done by lawyers. The struggle, he said, should be made from their respective platforms.

He praised Justice Chaudhry for refusing to succumb to the pressure mounted by Gen Musharraf. Had the CJP given in, the situation today would have been entirely different, he speculated.

Former foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmed said the crisis had put the entire nation on trial, and time had come for the judiciary to play a decisive role.

Reminding the judiciary of its past conduct, he said courts should now make up for their lapses in the past so that Pakistan could be transformed into a state as envisioned by the Quaid-i-Azam and Allama Iqbal.

Professor Anwar Syed, based in US for more than three decades, said while in America a judge could be impeached by Congress, there was no such provision in Pakistan. He said if there was no provision under Article 209 of the Constitution to file a reference against the Chief Justice of Pakistan, it should also be seen whether the Constitution prohibited any action against him in case he was guilty of misconduct. He was of the view that allegations against the CJP appeared baseless. He condemned mistreatment of the CJP.

PPP Secretary-General Jehangir Badr alleged that Gen Musharraf had targeted the judiciary to perpetuate dictatorship and to get results of his own choice in the next elections.

He said the PPP would continue its struggle for the independence of the judiciary, hoping that the judges would also play their role for the purpose.

Punjab PPP President Shah Mahmoud Qureshi saluted the judges who resigned to express solidarity with Justice Chaudhry or participated in a reception hosted for him in Hyderabad. The conduct of such people, he said, gave a ray of hope for a bright future of the country and that the current struggle for the independence of the judiciary would be taken to its logical conclusion.

The judicial crisis, he said, could lead to judicial activism.

He said it was strange that a man now spearheading the struggle for the independence of the judiciary was the same who had taken oath under the PCO after the ouster of the PML government.

Begum Abida Hussain, Syed Fakhr Imam, Dr Wasim, PPP MNA Dr Azra, Justice (retd) Sharif Husain Bukhari, Mujibur Rehman Shami (Editor, Daily Pakistan) and Advocate Raja Shafqat Abbasi also addressed.

Former foreign minister Sartaj Aziz, former caretaker prime minister Mir Balakh Sher Mazari, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Qasim Zia, Ahmed Sadik, Javed Qureshi, Maj (retd) Anwaar Alvi, Iqbal Mehmud Awan, Munir Ahmed Khan, Malik Saeed Hasan, Munawwar Anjum, Abdul Qadir Shaheen, Mian Hanif Tahir, Naveed Chaudhry, Azma Bukhari and Faiza Malik were among the audience.