On Thursday evening, Dawn.com managed to get Aitzaz Ahsan, the former Supreme Court Bar Association president, on the phone (it only took five tries, if you're wondering). Sounding surprisingly calm, the de facto leader of the lawyers' movement took a moment to reflect on the spotty start of the Long March - peaceful rallies in Lahore, police crackdowns in Karachi.

First, the good news. Mr Ahsan reports that he is safe and excited to lead the lawyers' movement, which, in his words, is "going in the right direction." He remains optimistic despite police crackdowns in Karachi and the imposition of Section 144 in most parts of the country. "The government crackdown can't dampen our spirits. In fact, it will only add fire to our passion," he says.

Ahsan does not believe that the goals of the lawyers' movement have been affected by recent political turmoil in Pakistan. Indeed, he attributes the popularity of the movement to the clarity of the lawyers' goals. "We have support from all sections of society and this reflects the recent [2008] IRI Pakistan Index, a poll that states that over 80 percent of the people want Iftikhar Chaudhry back as the chief justice of Pakistan," he says.

Ahsan is also not reading much more into the involvement of PPP stalwarts such as Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi in the Long March. "Many PPP supporters are with us because they know that Benazir [Bhutto] had promised them that the judiciary would be restored," he says, adding "it is not true that the lawyers' movement does not have massive public support.... People are just waiting for the right opportunity to come out on the streets."

Whatever happens in the coming days, Ahsan says that he - along with all the lawyers and political activists advocating for an independent judiciary - is determined to succeed. "Until the issue of the restoration of the judiciary is resolved, we won't stop," he says. "If the government tries to sabotage our movement, they might be successful the first time. But we can always start the Long March again, three months later. We'll do it again and again until our objectives are met."