A tale of two demos

KARACHI: Activists of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami scuffled while staging their demonstrations outside the Karachi Press Club Sunday.

The Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Karachi Division was staging a demonstration to support President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the context of the decision pertaining to the appointments of superior courts judges.

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chapter was holding a demonstration to express solidarity with the judiciary, and to condemn the attempts of the rulers to take on the judiciary.

PPP activists in large numbers carried party flags and chanted slogans in favour of the president and prime minister.

They also approved a resolution to express confidence in the leadership of Zardari, Gilani and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Addressing the participants, the speakers said the decision about appointment of the superior courts judges is taken in accordance with the law and the constitution.

They also announced that a protest rally would be taken out in support of President Asif Ali Zardari on February 17 from the People’s Secretariat.

PPP Karachi Division President Najmi Alam addressing on the occasion said some elements were hatching conspiracies against democracy. He said the decision of President Zardari on the judges’ appointment was based on merit. He said the government does not want a clash of institutions.

PPP leaders including MPA Farzana Baloch, Adviser to Sindh CM Rashid Rabbani, PPP Karachi Division General Secretary Saeed Ghani and Provincial Adviser Mrs Noor Jahan Baloch were also present on the occasion. agencies

A few dozen people attended the Jamaat-e-Islami’s demonstration and chanted slogans in favour of the chief justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and against the government. They also shouted slogans against the NRO beneficiaries.

JI Karachi Amir Muhammad Hussain Mehnati, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, Nasrullah Shaji, Hameedullah Advocate and others spoke on the occasion and urged the rulers to respect the decisions of the courts.

They said the rulers appear to be on a collision course with the judiciary, which would be harmful for the country. ppi

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Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: Braving rain and gusty winds, hundreds of local leaders and workers of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) from Islamabad and Rawalpindi city and its tehsils Sunday poured on roads to express their full support to President Asif Ali Zardari and criticize PML-N chief Muhammad Nawaz Sharif for his statement against the president.

In Islamabad, PPP workers staged a rally in front of National Press Club (NPC) in support of President Asif Ali Zardari and against the Supreme Court for suspending the president’s notification of appointment of judges.

The activists were holding placards inscribed with slogans in support of Zardari. PPP Women Wing President and MPA Nargis Faiz Malik and People’s Youth Organisation (PYO) Vice President Shakil Abbasi led the participants.

Addressing the gathering, Nargis MPA said that the PPP believed in merit, rule of law and supremacy of the constitution. She said President Zardari was a unanimously elected president and warned that a confrontation between the executive and the judiciary would be detrimental to the democratic system. She argued that appointment of judges had been made on merit. She said PPP was not power-hungry rather it believed in serving the masses.

She said some elements were hatching conspiracies against the PPP government but the PPP leadership and workers would outsmart such elements.

PYO Vice President Shakil Abbasi criticized the judiciary saying that it was paving way for a clash between the institutions.

In Rawalpindi city, the PPP leaders and workers converged on the slain PPP chairwoman Benazir Bhutto’s memorial on Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road and marched up to Rawalpindi Press Club, raising slogans in support of President Zardari and against the judiciary and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Muhammad Nawaz Sharif for their what they called anti-PPP government posture.

Led by PPP, Rawalpindi district, President Shaukat Abassi, City President Malik Aamir Fida Piracha, PPP Secretary Information Shujat Haider Naqvi and Khurram Kayani of People’s Students Federation (PSF), the participants gathered outside Rawalpindi Press Club.

The speakers said that President
Asif Ali Zardari had put the country on the ‘path of development’ path and prospered the nation through his wise policies and decisions.

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* Party’s Lahore president burns copies of SC’s decision suspending presidential notification regarding judges’ appointment

Staff Report

LAHORE: After the start of a fresh controversy involving the federal government and the judiciary, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) workers on Sunday took to the streets, declaring their support for President Asif Ali Zardari.

PPP Punjab and the party’s Lahore chapter protested in front of the Lahore Press Club. The protesters carried placards and banners with slogans like “stop the conspiracy against democracy”.

Several protesters also chanted slogans against the judiciary like “partial judiciary unacceptable”, “a blue-eyed judge of Nawaz Sharif should be suspended” and “Supreme Court’s black decision unacceptable”.

Burnt copies: During the protest, PPP Lahore President Chaudhry Asghar Gujjar burnt copies of the Supreme Court’s decision suspending the president’s notification regarding the elevation of Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif to the Supreme Court and the appointment of Justice Saqib Nisar as the acting LHC chief justice. Party workers also burnt two effigies.

Earlier, addressing journalists, PPP Punjab President Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan claimed that his party had always respected state institutions and that Zardari had issued the notification on the judges’ appointment in line with the constitution.

He said the government had so far tolerated its “opponents’ attempts at hatching conspiracies, but no more”. He said the judiciary might be looking to use the president and prime minister’s powers for its own interests.

To a question, he said the party did not fear imprisonment for raising slogans against the judiciary.

Reacting to Nawaz’s statement that Zardari was a threat to democracy, Aftab said Zardari was an elected president and “had never run away to Jeddah”.

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