By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : Sick and tired of a military president, Pakistan’s lawyer community is on the warpath again, this time determined to foil a second five-year term to Pervez Musharraf.
Leading lawyers say they will go to any length to prevent Musharraf’s attempt to become president again, if necessary by storming the offices of the Election Commission.
“We will not only siege the Election Commission offices in Islamabad… we will enter the building and destroy the (nomination) documents,” said Ali Ahmed Kurd, a lawyer who also pleaded Justice Ifthkhar Chaudhry’s case in the Supreme Court.
“I know this is illegal … but we are being pushed to the wall and are left with no choice but to go to the extreme against a dictator,” he said.
And the lawyers say they have history on their side.
It was after a mass campaign by lawyers that dictator General Ayub Khan was forced to quit and hand over power. Again in 1984, lawyers mounted a campaign against General Ziaul Haq’s military regime and forced him to hold elections.
Lawyers in Pakistan are again ready to launch what they call a “decisive move” against military rule. “We don’t see any failure in our campaign… it will end with Musharraf’s ouster,” Kurd told IANS.
Kurd’s comments after the Supreme Court Bar Association vowed to launch anti-Musharraf protests from Sep 29.
“We will launch our campaign from Sep 29. On that day, lawyers and activists will surround the Election Commission offices in Islamabad and all four provincial capitals,” association president Munir Malik announced Thursday.
The Election Commission has announced that elections for a new president will be held Oct 6 and nomination papers to candidates will be issued Sep 27. The final list of candidates will be publicised Oct 1.
This is the first time in the country’s history that the same parliament will elect a president twice on completion of the president’s term.
The same parliament had elected Musharraf as president in November 2002 and his five-year-term ends Nov 15 this year. The fact that the same parliament will again pick him has angered the anti-Musharraf parties.
Some lawyers have vowed to put up a “very strong” candidate against Musharraf.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sher Afgan countered the threat, and said: “Musharraf is the winner… there would be no other candidate for the presidential elections.”
Lawyers have started appearing on different TV channels, challenging the president to contest elections after quitting the army chief’s position.
Some lawyers are of the opinion that an impeachment move would come against Musharraf soon by the new parliament if he got himself elected by the present assemblies.
Lawyers across the country took to streets in March when Musharraf sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was later restored in July by the Supreme Court. Lawyers held protests, staged demonstrations and arranged addresses by Chaudhry in several cities.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Secretary Don McKinnon, who is on a visit to Pakistan, met Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retired) Qazi Farooq and several politicians, including opposition leaders.
He said he was hopeful that Musharraf would doff the uniform and Pakistan would return to complete civilian rule.
In another surprise move, US Ambassador to Pakistan N.W. Peterson met Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz acting president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.
“She visited my house Thursday evening and we had a good 90-minute discussion on several issues,” Hashmi told IANS.
Peterson clarified that the US was not involved in the deportation of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Hashmi said.