LAHORE, July 17: Lawyers’ representatives warned the ruling coalition on Thursday their government would become history if they continued dillydallying the restoration of the judges sacked under the Nov 3, 2007, Provisional Constitution Order (PCO).

“Stop delaying the restoration of the (deposed) judges in the name of expediency and respect the mandate,” said Lahore Bar Association (LBA) President Manzoor Qadir while addressing protesters outside the Punjab Assembly building. Governments acting against the will of people perished soon, he warned.

Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) President Anwar Kamal said he agreed with Mr Qadir, adding the lawyers’ movement would not die down until the restoration of judges.

Besides lawyers, activists of the Women’s Action Forum, Concerned Citizens of Pakistan, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI), Tehrik-i-Khaksar, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Pakhtoon Khwa Milli Awami Party were also present.

They chanted slogans against PCO judges while walking past the judges’ gate of the high court. PTI workers criticised Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari for “delaying the restoration of judges”. PML-N workers, however, chanted slogans against President Pervez Musharraf. JI workers kept shouting “…fight to continue till the restoration of judges”. While protesters walked to Charing Cross holding placards and pictures of deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, a couple of PML-N leaders arrived there on their jeeps.Civil society activist Syeda Diep said students had stayed away from the rally because they were disappointed with the outcome of the long march.

LHCBA President Anwar Kamal told Dawn the strength of lawyers in the rally had gone down because of the vacation in courts and PPP lawyers also did not join the rally.

Lawyers, however, violated their decisions of boycotting court proceedings as a number of lawyers appeared before LHC judges.In the LHCBA general house meeting, PML-N Lawyers’ Forum President Khwaja Mahmood called for unity among lawyers. “Our foremost objective is to have an independent judiciary, and we cannot rely on parliament to make this happen,” he added.

Rana Farman Sabir, Supreme Court Bar Association executive committee member, emphasised the need for civil participation in the lawyers’ movement.

Pakistan Bar Council Member Hafiz Abdur Rehman Ansari said political parties lacked the will to restore the judges. He proposed inviting PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif to the bar to remove what he called the mist surrounding his stance over the restoration of judges.

Scottish think-tank member Dr Kaiser Rasheed emphasised upon the supremacy of the constitution and deplored the closure of Human Rights Cell set up by the deposed chief justice.

LHCBA secretary Rana Asadullah asked the bar members to register their names for attending the convention in Bahawalpur, which would be presided over by justice Chaudhry.