LAHORE, June 9: The lawyers associated with the PPP have split over the issue of participation in the long march.

Though the PPP lawyers on both sides of the divide agree on the need to restore the judges, their views on participation in the long march stand oceans apart. “We will abstain from the long march because we could become part of a plan that may

succeed in harming the nascent democracy in the country,” said Senator Sardar Latif Khan Khosa.

Khosa, who heads a strong group within the People’s Lawyers Forum (PLF), is highly apprehensive of a law and order situation in the wake of the long march.

“There are people within the establishment waiting to make things wrong. They always look for opportunities to derail the democratic process in the country,” he said and added that he did not doubt the intentions of the lawyers participating in the march.

Answering a question, Khosa said it was wrong to assume, as being suggested by some quarters, that the PPP was trying to indemnify the illegal steps Pervez Musharraf took on Nov 3, 2007. “Not only the Nov 3, but the PPP also condemned the Oct 12 coup,” he said.

He said the PPP also did not recognise the Supreme Court verdict in Syed Zafar Ali Shah’s case, which allowed Gen Pervez Musharraf to make amendments to the Constitution. “We only want to resolve the issue of judges restoration through parliament.”

To another question, Khosa said the need for the long march appeared out of place because the political parties were not only working for the restoration of the deposed judges but also impeaching President Musharraf under Article 47 of the Constitution. He said the PLF did recognise the lawyers’ right to raise their demands but could not think about participating in a movement, which had the potential of destabilising its own government.

However, Mian Jehangir, who is the PLF’s Lahore High Court chapter convener, disagrees.

He said he was an elected member of the forum, which could not desert the lawyers’ community in its cause to restore the judiciary and ensure fundamental rights of the people. He added the PLF was the pioneer of the movement for the restoration of the deposed judges and knew what the majority of the lawyers associated with the PPP wanted.