Amir Jamaat-i-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed, a front-runner of the movement for restoration of the sacked judiciary on Monday expressed his dissatisfaction over what he called unilateral decision of Nawaz Sharif to call off the lawyers long march last week.
Talking to newsmen after attending a gathering of JI here, Qazi Hussain said that it was agreed with PML-N stalwarts including Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Shahbaz Sharif and lawyers representatives that future decisions would be taken jointly after the speech of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
He categorically dispelled the perception that a major revolution has taken place and expressed his dissatisfaction over the unilateral decision to end the long march. He said that the long march was called off unilaterally, and we were stunned by the decision including that of former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Munir A Malik.
The lawyers, he opined, were also not happy with the decision though PML-N claims that the lawyers were consulted before calling off the march. He said that it would have been better if the judiciary was restored on November 2, 2007 position, adding that judiciary could not be called as totally independent without getting rid of PCO judges.
The visibly disappointed JI Amir maintained that people would get dissatisfied in case their expectations from CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry were not fulfilled, adding that politicians had come to power because of NRO, and could not tolerate free judiciary. He hinted that the Supreme Court must take the issue of Jamia Hafsa, Lal Masjid operation, National Reconciliation Ordinance and November 3 actions by former President Pervez Musharraf. He, however, expressed his ignorance about any deal brokered by politicians and government during the recently-concluded long march.