LAHORE, May 7: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry’s decision to take on President Musharraf following a move by the latter apparently to make the superior judiciary more obedient in the election year, and his visits to various bars in three provinces have activated the hitherto ‘dormant’ opposition parties of all shades of opinion, which had failed to bring people on roads despite efforts made by them over the past seven years.

However, it remains to be seen whether the political parties will be able to keep up the momentum that they built up within a few weeks once the presidential reference is decided one way or the other.

Punjab ARD President Shah Mahmood Qureshi is confident that the movement would continue for the independence of the judiciary, sovereignty of parliament, restoration of the Constitution to its pre-1999 coup shape, free and fair elections under the supervision of an interim government and across the board accountability.

Rising inflation, unemployment, growing lawlessness and poverty were some other issues that the opposition would address in the days ahead, he told reporters on Monday.

He said although the opposition parties had been agitating these issues for the past several years, the people had their own sense of timing. Now the nation was in no mood to give any more time to the present rulers, he said.

Qureshi said it was no longer a movement confined to the lawyers as political parties had also joined it in a big way. He said now the opposition parties would not relax unless they achieved their targets. Participation of the Bench in the people’s movement, he said, augured well for the future of the movement.

In his opinion, the Supreme Court’s decision to stay the proceedings of the Supreme Judicial Council was a great moral victory for Justice Chaudhry.

He said the ruling party had no justification to hold the rallies it had held earlier as well as the one planned for May 12 in Islamabad.

Demanding the release of all arrested and detained opposition leaders and workers, Qureshi said in case the call was not heeded, he would ask the central ARD leadership to allow the coalition parties to hold a rally in the federal capital on May 12.

Referring to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s indication that emergency rule could be enforced in case the situation so warranted, Qureshi said there was no need for such an extreme step.

PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq also believes that the movement will continue as it is more for the rights of an institution — judiciary — than an individual.

He said the way the people had received a ‘defiant’ chief judge showed that they would support the opposition parties in the next elections.

He said the movement had spread to all nooks and corners of the country, and nobody would be able to stop it.

He said the credit for creating an atmosphere for a movement went both to the CJP and the lawyers.

Raja recalled that a few months ago, he had advised the ARD leadership to take such an initiative or the people would follow anyone who gave such a call. He said what he had predicted had happened.

He said it was the failure of opposition parties that for their own interests they could not set up a broad-based forum.

The PML-N leader said there was no justification for the imposition of emergency rule in the prevailing situation.

ARD Secretary-General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra proposed that all opposition parties should set a date for a multi-party conference to advance their political agenda.

The APC which was proposed to be held in London in March was postponed because of the judicial crisis.

Jhagra said the opposition should follow the decisions of the lawyers’ community with regard to sustaining or abandoning protests.

In case the lawyers decided to call off their campaign in view of the Supreme Court’s decisions, the political parties should work out their future course of action to realize objectives they had set for themselves, said the ARD leader.

MMA Deputy Secretary-General Liaquat Baloch said if the reference against Justice Chaudhry was withdrawn, it would be because of the pressure mounted by the lawyers and opposition parties.

He said dismissal of the reference would leave no option for President Musharraf but to quit. In case he didn’t, he said the movement would continue till the supremacy of the Constitution was restored.

Baloch said the opposition parties should ensure that another general should not replace Gen Musharraf.

ANP Secretary-General Ehsan Wyne did not agree with the suggestion that the presidential reference had brought the political parties closer to another. He said parties were already united, but the reference had changed the atmosphere in the country.

Wyne said he could say in the light of his 40-year political experience that the government was on its way out. “When the governments get aggressive in their attitude, when they hold rallies in competition with opposition parties, and when they start talking of imposing emergency, they are surely close to the exit,” said the ANP leader, who is a lawyer by profession.

Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf President Imran Khan said in case the reference was not decided on the basis of merit, the anti-government movement would gain momentum. He said all parties were already united for the supremacy of the Constitution, and any party striking a deal with the government in the present situation would be annoying the people.