LAHORE, July 31: Supreme Court Bar Association President Munir A Malik has urged the lawyers’ community to throng the apex court when it takes up important national and constitutional matters like they have been doing during the hearing of a presidential reference against the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

Speaking at the Lahore Bar Association here on Tuesday, he said lawyers must not think that the judiciary had won a complete independence, and if they showed weakness at this point, the decisions (by the judiciary) would also be weak.

He hoped that lawyers from Lahore would reach Islamabad during hearing of the petition challenging eligibility of Gen Musharraf to remain as army chief as well as running for the presidency for the second term whether in uniform or without it.

Justice Rana Bhagwandas of the Supreme Court had already admitted for hearing a petition filed by MMA president Qazi Husain Ahmad.

Malik said next three months would be important in the national politics as issues like choosing people with dual nationality as prime ministers would be settled for once and the way to Islamabad from Washington DC would be closed for good.

Referring to the reported deal of the PPP with Gen Musharraf, he called upon the party chairperson not to bail out the army ruler at a time when `his ship was about to sink.’ He urged upon politicians to close the chapter of deals forever.

He was confident that even the lawyers belonging to the PPP would oppose any deal or contacts with the army government and in this regard cited the determination of Swat and Mangora district bar presidents to prefer the lawyers’ movement to the party (PPP).

Balochistan Bar president Arbab Kakar said the establishment had sowed the seeds of hatred among the people of the four provinces but thanks to the lawyers’ movement that all the provinces had assembled on one platform.

He said the drive also negated the Western propaganda that Pakistanis were not mature enough to select on their own the right path for their rights.

Pakistan Bar Council member Kazim Khan warned the politicians that fair and free elections were not possible as far as the present political set-up continued to exist.

Former SCBA president Hamid Khan said the second phase of the movement had been launched which would continue until elimination of the army dictatorship.

He said the July 20 SC’s verdict called upon political parties not to have any contact with the army ruler.

District Bar president Syed Muhammad Shah vowed to launch movement against the political party too which would strike any deal with the dictator.