SCBA terms Qadri’s march undemocratic

As political situation is getting complicated in the country day by day, the Supreme Court Bar Association has called an All Parties Conference on January 10, the day when the deadline, given by Tahrik-e-Minhajul Quran (TMQ) chief Tahirul Qadri to the government to accept his demands regarding ‘change in the system,’ will end.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the country’s biggest elected body of lawyers, also termed Tahirul Qadri’s proposed long march on Islamabad undemocratic and said the purposes behind the march were ambiguous.

SCBA President Mian Israrul Haq and Secretary Javed Iqbal Raja announced calling the APC during an emergent press conference here on Tuesday. They informed the media persons that all the registered political parties, including the PPP and PML-N, had been invited to attend the conference on January 10.

“Discussions on the ongoing political situation in the country and ways to protect democracy are the main agenda of the APC,” they said.

“Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, PML-Q’s Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and office-bearers of the MQM and ANP have accepted the invitations and assured their attendance,” Israrul Haq claimed. He added that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had not yet confirmed the participation.

Replying to a query, the SCBA president said they had not sent invitation to the TMQ because it was not a registered political party with the Election Commission of Pakistan.

“The TMQ is just a non-government organization (NGO), therefore, we need not invite it in the conference,” he said.

Haq said the TMQ’s chief long march might be harmful to democracy. Holding such a long march when the army and judiciary wanted the continuation of a democratic process was beyond understanding, the SCBA president said. “Such adventures may be harmful to the democracy,” Israrul Haq said while justifying the call of the All Parties’ Conference (APC). He said that though democratic governments had failed to solve the public problems but there was no other way to their solution except democracy. “No one will be allowed to derail the democratic setup,” he vowed.

Posted in: Lahore