LAHORE, Sept 22: The ruling PML has regretted, what it says, the new trend taking roots in the politics under which political activists try to influence court decisions by staging demonstrations outside their premises.

Punjab PML media committee chairman Imran Riaz, Lahore chapter secretary-general Suhail Butt and Dr Nabila Tariq said this at a joint press conference here on Saturday.

They alleged that Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Muneer A. Malik had gone to the extent of setting the court ablaze if it did not give verdict according to the lawyers’ wishes in the CJP case.

PML leaders deplored that Jamaat-i-Islami Chief Qazi Husain Ahmad and Liaquat Baloch were now following the suit by saying that they would not accept the court ruling if it did not match their wishes in the petition challenging holding of two offices by Gen Musharraf.

They suggested that the apex court should take a suo motu action on their statements.

The PML leaders wondered why Qazi Husain would stage sit-ins, hold processions and talk of tendering resignations if the court ruled that Gen Musharraf’s re-election in uniform was quite legal.

Resignations by the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) and dissolution of the NWFP assembly by the MMA would not be a wise step as these would invite martial law instead of democracy, they feared.