PBC urges Alvi to announce polls date

The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Tuesday passed a resolution, urging President Arif Alvi to fulfil his constitutional responsibility and announce a date for the general elections as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) insists on pushing the polls beyond the constitutional deadline in order to conduct fresh delimitation of constituencies.

During a meeting, attended by chairmen and vice chairmen of the executive committees of bar councils of all four provinces and Islamabad, as well as presidents of high court bar associations, it was agreed to go on a countrywide strike on September 9 to demand the announcement of the election date.

Speaking to the media after a meeting, PBC Chairman Hassan Raza Pasha announced that on September 9, lawyers will take out peaceful rallies, hold public meetings and wave black flags at all district and tehsil levels.

The decision was taken after a conference in the office of the PBC at the Supreme Court building in Islamabad with Vice Chairman Haroonur Rashid, Chairman Hassan Raza Pasha and the PBC executive committee in the chair.

According to a statement issued by the PBC, the conference considered the matters of prevailing and current constitutional crisis in the country, raids on houses of lawyers and registration of FIRs against them, holding of general elections, price hikes including exorbitant increases in electricity bills as well as petrol prices.

The meeting also discussed the issues of missing persons, a reference filed against a judge of the Supreme Court by Pakistan and provincial/Islamabad bar councils.

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In the resolution, the PBC expressed concerns over speculations about the delay in general elections and demanded that the Election Commission of Pakistan conduct free and fair polls within 90 days, as specified in Article 224 of the Constitution.

It was also resolved that all high-ranking officials from the prime minister to the secretary level of the federal as well as provincial governments, who take pay from the public exchequer should not be allowed to leave the country after their retirement and their children should get education in public schools and colleges and medical treatment from public hospitals, otherwise, they should resign from their posts.

The PBC further demanded of the government during the meeting that such privileges of all officials of the state or public sector corporations enjoying free-of-charge facilities on state expenses be stopped forthwith and the facilities available to the elite class and a common man should be the same and there should be no discrimination.

Further, the children of the poor and rich should be provided equal facilities and be treated equally.

Speaking to the media, the PBC chairman also confirmed that the first resolution that the meeting passed was that the president of Pakistan should fulfil his constitutional responsibility and announce an election date as mandated under Article 48(5) of the Constitution.

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He said the president does not need to consult or take advice from anyone on the matter, as he is competent to announce the election date under the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973.

The PBC chairman said the lawyer’s body was also concerned about “illegal raids at lawyers’ houses and their families being harassed”.

“No lawyer can be pressured [into not] performing their professional duties. Their houses cannot be raided. They are fulfilling their duties as per law and Constitution, and no one has the right to include them in investigations and question them on the arguments they present in court,” Pasha said.

Moreover, he called for immediate hearings of references filed by bar councils against Supreme Court judges.

“We demand that Chief Justice-designate Qazi Faez Isa begin proceedings on these references soon after taking oath as the top judge," he stressed.

The press release raised alarms over the manhandling and arrests of advocates while performing their professional duties, condemning it as highly unjustified.

“The house demanded that all arrested advocates should be released immediately and further demanded full implementations of the ‘Lawyers Protections Act’ in letter and spirit,” it added.

It was resolved that political parties should take steps for holding elections within 90 days and the bar leadership would not allow the legal fraternity to be used for furthering any political agenda of any political party.

It highlighted that political parties are the main stakeholders and the interim government should organise an all-parties conference on the recent economic crisis without wasting any time and the delegation of the PBC will have a meeting with the prime minister in order to help build a political consensus.