Due to the lawyers’ movement the very foundations of the dictatorial rule in the country has started to tremble. In an unprecedented move, preparations have started for the impeachment of the president. The coalition government has embarked upon a ‘Go Musharraf Go’ campaign completely forgetting the issues concerning the masses like price-hike, unemployment and other problems.
People have been promised that after the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf, the deposed judges will also be restored. On the other hand the people and the lawyers’ community are once again looking up to the coalition government and yet another promise of their’s. The government has promised that the judges would be restored after the impeachment of the president according to the Murree declaration. With the start of the impeachment process against the president, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) have also intensified efforts to save the president. On the other hand senior vice-president of the Pakistan People’s Party-Parliamentarians Makhdoom Amin Fahim has so far opposed the decision to impeach the president. He has said that he would adopt the same attitude in this issue; the way the party had treated him. The way lawyers stood up against a dictator has been unprecedented in the history of the country and even popular political parties failed to launch a movement with identical intensity against a sitting dictator. It seems the struggle is now heading towards a successful end.
The lawyers’ movement started after the steps taken by President Musharraf firstly on March 9 then on November 3. It was the chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry who led from the front. The chief justice for the first time in the history of the country refused to yield to a dictator, taking the first step towards the supremacy of law and the Constitution. The lawyers’ community which was later joined by the political parties started to dent the dictators’ hold on the country’s political affairs.
The lawyers too had given August 14 as deadline to the coalition government for the restoration of the deposed judges. The people as well as the lawyers’ community have strongly supported the steps so far taken by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for the restoration of the judges. The steps include sacrificing the ministries for the first time in the history of the country. The lawyers’ community is still not much satisfied with the latest announcement made the ruling coalition. The statements made by the Pakistan People’s Party leadership and the promises made in the past indicate that the party is not serious about the restoration of the deposed judges.
On the other hand, the conspiracies by the government to weaken the lawyers’ movement also indicate that the Pakistan People’s Party is not giving serious attention to the judges’ issue. The countrywide trip of the ‘PCO’ chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar when talks were in process between the PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and the PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif, the issuance of notification of restoration of eight judges of the Sindh High Court and later the PML-N decision to boycott and its cancellation, raised many questions in the minds of the lawyers.
The judges’ restoration was the issue of prime importance between the members of the ruling coalition, and the PML-N was even willing to leave the government on the issue.
The lawyers are of the view that it is to some extent true that the government was in contact with some judges of the Sindh High Court and perhaps they were even persuaded to take oath. In order to foil the attempt, the lawyers invited Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to Karachi on July 29. This step by the lawyers proved successful in stopping the judges from taking oath.
During the visit, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry met 15 deposed judges at the residence of the chief justice of the Sindh High Court Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed.
The chief justice was accompanied by Justice Raja Fayyaz, Chief Justice Tahir Pervez and Justice Khawaja Sharif.
On the other hand the lawyers’ leaders are of the view that the signatures on the reappointment of the judges of the Sindh High Court was an attempt by the PPP to spoil the talks effort.
Sources said the notification was issued for Justice Anwar Jamali, Justice Ameer Hani Muslim, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Zafar Ahmed Sheerani, Justice Salman Ansari and Justice Abdur Rasheed.
President of the Sindh High Court Bar Association Rasheed A. Rizvi said even if the notification would have been issued only two judges would have taken oath as six judges had refused to take oath.
Former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Munir A. Malik said according to the Al-Jihad case, appointment could not take place on the advice of the acting chief justice.
In a general body meeting of the Karachi bar on August 7 the role of Farooq Naek was severely criticised. Farooq Naek’s entry into the bar was also banned.
Lawyers want the government to provide a timeframe for the judges’ restoration without conditioning it to any other thing like impeachment.
Lawyers would be speaking their strategy out on August 14 keeping in mind various options. They are concerned over the fact that in case the impeachment against the president fails then what will be the fate of the judges’ restoration issue. It seems the lawyers will not hang their boots till the restoration of the judges.