ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan's deposed chief justice has scrapped plans to address lawyers' associations across the country and press for his restoration following his release from house arrest last week.
A lawyer close to Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry said Friday that the judge plans to stay in Islamabad and not make any speeches. Ali Ahmad Kurd said the move comes amid expectations the new government will restore Chaudhry and other judges axed in November.
''We took this decision on our own so we do not give any impression that we are pressuring the government,'' Kurd said. ''The chief justice has to remain calm and quiet. There will be no statements and no addresses.''
But Kurd said if the government does not honor its promise to restore judges ousted by President Pervez Musharraf within 30 days, Chaudhry will address bar associations across Pakistan. He also said lawyers would stage a huge protest rally in the capital.
Chaudhry was greeted by crowds of lawyers and political activists when he traveled to his home city of Quetta on Monday in what had been expected to be the start of a series of trips across Pakistan to put him back in the public eye.
He was to fly back to Islamabad on Friday.
Chaudhry emerged last year as the main check on Musharraf's dominance of Pakistan after eight years of military rule.
The former army chief's powers have diminished further since the party of slain ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto came in top in February elections and cobbled together a broad coalition.
Full story @ http://www.nytimes.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment