The PML-N participated in a big way in the November 3 protests to mark the sacking of several superior court judges by Pervez Musharraf a year ago and their non-restoration by the PPP government. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz expressed solidarity with the lawyers' movement today (Monday) for the restoration of the pre-November 3 judiciary led by Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and observed November 3 as the black day.
It would not only be remembered as 'the darkest day' in the history of Pakistan but in the world as well, when a dictator imposed emergency through unconstitutional means. Muslim Students Federation organised a rally from Civil Lines College to Press Club, and Students of Government College of technology took out a rally from their college to BCG Chowk. Pakistan Muslim League-N Multan district rally was led by Allah Nawaz Khan Durrani, Shaikh Athar Mumtaz, General Secretary, Malik Anwar Ali, Syed Zaman Shah, Zafar Qadri, Munir Akhtar Langah and staged a demonstration in front of Multan Press Club.
All participants were wearing black armbands and carrying black flags. City organisation also staged a demo under the leadership of Rana Mehmood-ul-Hassan, MNA, Rana Noor-ul-Hassan City president, Shaikh Tariq Rashid, Ex-Mayor, Imtiaz Gulzar Chattan, and Imran Liaquat Shaikh.
A protest meeting was held at the residence of Amer Saeed Ansari MPA. They said that former president Pervez Musharraf declared 'martial law' on November 3 only to save his rule, he broke his own Provisional Constitutional Order. They said that the February 18 elections proved to be a referendum against dictatorship and "this fact cannot be ignored that 160 million people have given mandate to anti-Musharraf political forces.
"They regretted that Pakistan People's Party-led government had not only failed to resolve the crisis, but had deepened it. They said the government had wasted eight months despite written agreements to restore the judiciary. They said the controversial 17th Constitutional Amendment introduced by the former president was still hanging like a sword on the elected parliament.
They said they were confident that all the crises could disappear if the judiciary was restored to its November 2 position and the 17th Amendment repealed in the light of the Charter of Democracy (CoD). Leaguers hoped that President Asif Ali Zardari would follow the Murree Declaration and the CoD to steer the country out of the prevailing crisis. Makhdoom Javed Hashmi joined the lawyers in Islamabad. More than 300 lawyers left for Islamabad to join the main protest rally.