KARACHI, May 26: The proposed 18th amendment to the Constitution has apparently failed to address the core issue of restoring the superior judiciary to its Nov 2 (2007) position, Bar representatives said here on Monday.

Addressing a joint press conference, Pakistan Bar Council member Yasin Khan Azad, Sindh Bar Council members Salahuddin Khan Gandapur, Mustafa Ahmad Lakhani, Sadiq Hidayatullah, Saathi M. Ishaq and Faheem Riaz Siddiqui; Sindh High Court Bar Association managing committee members Adnan Ahmed and Nauman Khan; and vice-president of the Malir Bar Association said lawyers were determined to continue their struggle.

“The struggle has already succeeded in making the judiciary’s independence and restoration a cause of the entire civil society,” they said, adding that the masses were ready to join the movement for reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and other deposed judges.

The lawyers were now an “organised force” enjoying the support of the people and capable of removing any obstacle to realising the cherished goal of the rule of law.

The lawyers and the people at large, the representatives said, were confident that the new democratic government would undo the provisional constitution order (PCO) of Nov 3, 2007, and restore the judiciary. The hopes were belied as the new rulers started dancing to the tunes of dictatorship. However, the lawyers would frustrate all moves to oust the deposed judges and retain those who took oath under the PCO, they vowed.

The representatives expressed their concern at US interference in a purely internal issue like the reinstatement of judges. “The people of Pakistan are in a position to decide for themselves as evident from their vote against dictatorship in the Feb 18 polls.” They appealed to lawyers and civil society to observe a ‘black day’ on the arrival of US envoy Negroponte in Islamabad.

Answering questions, they said the draft of the amendment bill was not available and a detailed comment must await its publication. Insofar as the repeal of Article 58 (2) (b) was concerned, there was a national consensus that the president should not have the authority to dissolve the National Assembly. Along with the supremacy of parliament, any constitutional package must ensure a strong and independent judiciary, they said.