ISLAMABAD, Aug 7: Pakistan Bar Council vice-chairman Saiyed Rehman has said that the legal community does not think that impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf is the way to reinstate the deposed judges, fearing failure can spell disaster for political parties.

“We are utterly disappointed and not satisfied with the joint communiqué by the coalition leaders,” Mr Rehman told Dawn on Thursday. By linking the reinstatement of judges with the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf, Mr Rehman regretted, the government had instilled a sense of dejection among lawyers.

Instead of coming out with yet another declaration, it would have been better had the coalition leaders moved to reinstate the judges in line with the Bhurban declaration.

“First we saw the Bhurban declaration, then Dubai and then London but in reality none of the deposed judges was able to re-enter the judiciary,” Mr Rehman lamented.

Coalition leaders should realise that the heroic movement of lawyers had catapulted them to power, he said.

Referring to the government’s abortive attempt to “entice” eight deposed judges of the Sindh High Court to take fresh oath of office, Mr Rehman said such appointments would mean betrayal.

A former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Muneer A. Malik, also seemed unhappy with the outcome of the dialogues. He said Aug 11 was not far away and “we can afford to wait and see what transpires”. However, he warned, if the government failed in its attempt, the president would not hesitate to invoke Article 58(2)b and send them packing home.

“Already the highest institutions of the country are in confrontation with each other,” he said.

About the lawyers’ future line of action, Mr Malik said representatives of different lawyers’ bodies would be meeting on Aug 15 in Islamabad to chalk out a line of action.

He expressed fear that if the government further dragged the judges’ issue, the legal community would be left with no choice but to resume its movement in “a most aggressive way”.

To a question about the judges who were willing to accept the government’s offer for fresh oath, Mr Malik said had they taken the oath, it would have badly dented the lawyers’ movement.