Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, 84, who has been easing the path of military dictators first Gen. Mohammad Ayub Khan in 1958, then Gen. Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan in 1969, followed by General Zia, and now Musharraf, says he is just a lawyer for hire available to anyone who wants his services.
He has even helped the opposition leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif on several cases when they were civilian prime ministers, he said.
But lawyers across the country are boycotting the courts and refusing to work before judges who took a new "Pirzada" framed oath under the emergency, virtually paralyzing judicial proceedings.
[Remember Musharraf also took the oaths of 14 new Supreme Court judges yesterday (Saturday) afternoon, permanently replacing the Supreme Court he dismissed on Nov. 3].
Concern about the general stability of the country prompted 23 former ambassadors and foreign secretaries to sign a statement this week calling for Musharraf to reverse all the steps he has taken since imposing emergency rule. They pointed out the previous Supreme Court ruled the state of emergency illegal before it was dismissed and its judges place under house arrest.
Yet the lifting of emergency rule will not resolve the tensions in the country, in particular between the judiciary and the president. Musharraf's recent decrees have effectively muzzled the press, curbed the judiciary and made him impregnable before Parliament and the courts.
RE:President, who has taken credit for giving freedom to the media ?
by on Dec 16, 2007 06:49 PM Permalink
But, according to a letter sent to news organizations by a group of former ambassadors and foreign secretaries, those decrees have created deep divisions in society and will further destabilize the country.
