ISLAMABAD, May 20: Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) co-chairman and former law minister Syed Iqbal Haider Tuesday asked the PPP-led coalition government to show magnanimity by accepting lawyers’ demand of judges’ reinstatement and said he along with the commission would be in the forefront if the planned long march by lawyers commenced on June 10.
“It is my earnest hope and desire that the government would show magnanimity in resolving the judicial crisis before the start of the scheduled long march,” Mr Haider told reporters here at the Supreme Court, adding that he and the HRCP would whole heartedly participate in the lawyers’ campaign.
He also suggested to the government to add a clause in the proposed 18th constitutional amendment to ensure provincial autonomy as was promised in the Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed between the slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and PML-N head Nawaz Sharif in London.
The government should urgently find a solution about the sitting judges, he said, adding that he was pained to see that issues which could be solved amicably were not being resolved.
However, he was confident that a formula for resolving the issue of independence of judiciary would be arrived at with one simple proposition of peaceful co-existence by doing away personal egos or personal interest and ambitions to override the national interests.
“It is not only in the interest of the country but also in the interest of the government to take bold initiatives for resolving the thorny issue instead of imposing controversial conditions as it was lucky to have a golden opportunity to have a government at the centre as well as in the four provinces,” Mr Haider said.
The image, prestige and the integrity of the elected civilian government should not be harmed because such damage to their integrity would only benefit the ambitions of dictatorial forces, he added.
About differences between the PPP and the PML-N on judge’s issue, Mr Haider suggested that sooner the polarisation and conflicts between the coalition partners were resolved, the better it would be otherwise it would bring colossal and incalculable loss to the integrity and functioning of the democratic forces.