Daily Times : Lawyers will protest tomorrow

Lawyers will protest tomorrow

Staff Report | November 4, 2007

KARACHI/LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Lawyers’ associations said on Saturday that lawyers would observe a strike on Monday, November 5, to protest the imposition of an emergency in the country.

Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairman Aziz Akbar Baig said the lawyers would hold meetings and rallies to condemn this “unconstitutional step”.

Punjab Bar Council Vice Chairman Tariq Javed Warraich said the emergency had put the country in danger and lawyers would resist it at any cost.

Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) President Ahsan Bhoon said the whole nation would resist the emergency and the lawyers would never accept judges taking oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order.

Separately, the Sindh High Court Bar Association hosted a meeting in Karachi after the proclamation of the emergency. The meeting passed a resolution stating that lawyers were concerned over the proclamation of emergency in the country at a time when the nation was preparing to elect its representatives and the Supreme Court was about to decide petitions challenging Gen Musharraf’s eligibility to run for a second presidential term.

Lawyers elsewhere in the country hosted similar meetings and resolved to resist the president’s step.