The Pakistan Bar Council and Supreme Court Bar Association have asked participants of the All Parties Conference in London this weekend not to participate in any election held under General Pervez Musharraf which, they alleged, are bound to be rigged and fraudulent.
In a letter to the convenor of the APC, Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, President Pakistan Muslim League (N), Vice Chairman PBC Mirza Aziz Akbar Baig and SCBA President, Muneer A Malik expressed their inability to attend the APC due to prevailing situation in the country.
The letter said as representatives of the lawyers' fraternity in Pakistan, we take this opportunity to express our resolve in the ongoing movement of lawyers as under:
1. to achieve independence of judiciary under the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry;
2. to put to an end the military dictatorship in Pakistan, once and for all;
3. to establish the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution;
4. to ensure free and fair elections through a strong and independent Election Commission. They said in order to achieve these objectives, the lawyers' community expects the following from the political parties in Pakistan:-
i) that no political party will enter into any compromises or even involve itself in any dialogue with the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf;
ii) that no political party will participate in any election held under General Pervez Musharraf, which is "bound to be rigged and fraudulent";
iii) that no Election Commissioner be appointed without the consensus of the political parties; and
iv) that General Pervez Musharraf should resign from the offices of the President and Chief of Army Staff before the elections are announced. They asked the convenor of the APC to read out their letter in the Conference and expressed the hope that APC would give due weight to the sentiments of the lawyers community in Pakistan.
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