Lawyers defer strike till Feb 14

RAWALPINDI Lawyers on Wednesday deferred their countrywide strike, which was to be observed on January 28 against the non-compliance of the Government on the Supreme Courts verdict on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
The lawyers announced to postpone the strike till February 14 after consultations with their leaders and Federal Information Minister, Qamaruz Zaman Kairas assurance that the decision of the SC would be implemented in its letter and spirit.
Qazi Muhammad Anwar, President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), announced this during a press conference at the High Court Bar Association, here on Wednesday. President High Court Bar Association, Malik Shahzad Ghaiba, Taufeeq Asif Advocate, and other lawyers leaders were also present on the occasion.
The representative of the lawyers said the community was not bent against the democratic set up and it did not want to derail the system but only wanted the Government to execute the SC verdict on the NRO and restore all the cases on the position of prior to October 5, 2007, when the annulled ordinance was promulgated.
He told that the Information Minister had asked him that the Government was serious in following the SC orders and should be given some time to implement the orders regarding the NRO. Qazi Anwar said he was asked that his meeting with Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani could be arranged but he refused by saying that he would meet the PM only with the other office bearers of the SCBA.
He said Advisor to the PM, Abdul Latif Khosa had also assured him that the Government was working to implement the orders of the court. The SCBA President said the implementation of the SC orders needed a notification from the PM about restoration of all the NRO related cases to their original status.
If the Government fails in implementation of the apex courts orders on the NRO in its true letter and spirit, the meeting of the National Coordination Council will be convened at the High Court Bar Association, Rawalpindi on February 14 to discuss the future strategy. After consultation with the lawyers leadership, new dates for strike will be made public. We are giving period of 18 days to the Government for the task that should be completed in just one day, he added.
The SCBA President said that if the Government is facing any kind of legal problem in implementation of the SCs orders then they should consult the lawyers, We will make the draft for the Government, he added.
PML (Q) has contacted the lawyers and expressed its desire to participate in our strike. Imran Khan is already with us. But actually, we want to strengthen the current political system, he said.
He said as a matter of fact the lawyers community is not in favour of inviting the Army to rule the country but the Government should implement the Supreme Court verdict and revive all the NRO related cases as they were on 5 October 2007.
He also demanded that the assets including land, property and sugar mills of President Asif Zardari should be refreeze as they were before the NRO.
Talking about the split among different leaders of the lawyers on issue of the strike, Qazi Anwar said he respected the viewpoints of all leaders including Aitzaz Ahsan, Ali Ahmed Kurd, Rasheed A Rizvi, and Munir A Malik and the decision of the strike was made in the meeting of the National Coordination Council on January 24 in Lahore.
He said the strike was being deferred after the consultation with the leaders of the lawyers from all over the country as they did not want any confrontation with the Government but reserved the right of protest over non-implementation of the SC orders.