By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : Pakistani opposition parties declared Friday they would quit the national and provincial assemblies Sep 29 to protest President Pervez Musharraf’s re-election bid, even as lawyers said they would go to any length to prevent him from continuing in office.
The opposition All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) announced its decision at a press conference here.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Raja Zafarul Haq, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, and Tehrik-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan were among those who addressed the media.
They said they would hold their respective party meetings in Islamabad on Sep 29 at which all parliamentarians would hand over their resignations to their party leadership.
The APDM consists of 32 parties – almost the entire opposition except former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
“On September 27 we would hold a demonstration in front of the Election Commission…all opposition parties would be there,” Haq told reporters, adding they would also urge the PPP to participate in the rally against Musharraf.
Though the PPP has not yet announced its decision, it says its legislators would consider resigning from the assemblies on Sep 27 – the day the Election Commission starts receiving nomination papers for the Oct 6 presidential elections.
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has announced its support for Musharraf in his re-election bid.
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 lay 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.
Some opposition parties and lawyers have also challenged in the Supreme Court Musharraf’s holding of dual offices of president and army chief.
The apex court is expected to announce its decision on Tuesday after hearing both sides.
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.