LAHORE, Aug 12: President Pervez Musharraf’s impeachment is a must for the restoration of a real democracy and independence of judiciary in Pakistan, say lawyers from various groups.

Musharraf is bent upon remaining part of the democratically elected government, said a joint statement issued here on Tuesday by People’s Lawyers Forum (PLF) Lahore President Mian Muhammad Jahangir, Pakistan Bar Council members Kazim Khan, Parvaiz Inayat Malik, Raja Shafkat Abbasi and Chaudhry Ramzan and Punjab Bar Council members Intikhab Shah, Hasan Raza Pasha, Shahid Mahmood Bhatti, Rana Abdul Shukoor, Amir Jaleel Siddiqi and Naveed Inayat.

The lawyers said Musharraf harmed national interests to prolong his rule. They said the nation knew that Musharraf was one of the key plotters of Benazir Bhutto’s murder. They said that embezzlement of billions of dollars from the grants for the anti-terror fight and exploitation of state institutions were the crimes which made impeachment inevitable.