PAKISTAN:A lawyer for Pakistan's suspended chief justice has vowed that the campaign to reinstate his client will not end until President Pervez Musharraf has stepped down and restored civilian rule.
"Even after the reinstatement of the chief justice our movement will not end," said Rasheed Razvi, one of four lawyers representing Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, who was declared "non-functional" by Gen Musharraf on March 9th.
"We are at a crossroads. This is the defining period of our history," he added at a press briefing in Hong Kong. "This is the time for the Supreme Court to say either farewell to arms or farewell to the constitution."
Mr Chaudhary's removal from office has sparked nationwide protests and created the country's most serious political crisis since Gen Musharraf seized power in 1999, prompting the government to crack down on broadcast media in recent days. The suspended chief justice, who has become a figurehead for the pro-democracy movement, is petitioning his former judicial colleagues on the Supreme Court, disputing misconduct charges and demanding his job back.
Mr Razvi was also critical of US policy in the region, saying its avowed aim to promote democracy in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan sat awkwardly with its alliance with Gen Musharraf. "Bush and the Americans don't want democracy in Pakistan," he said. "They only want air bases in Pakistan."
Richard Boucher, US assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia, said in an interview on Tuesday that the US was watching the situation closely. "For us, it needs to be handled smoothly and cleanly as a judicial matter to be decided by judges hearing the case . . . a decision that everyone respects," Mr Boucher said. "We certainly do not want violence to get out of hand, or this to become big trouble."
While the crisis is seen to have weakened Gen Musharraf's political position in the run-up to elections, the support of the army and the US has been firm.
Top Pakistani army commanders this week endorsed the "pivotal role" of Gen Musharraf as both president and chief of the army staff in what they described as the "ongoing reforms process" in the country.
The risk for Gen Musharraf is that if Mr Chaudhary is reinstated, he may look favourably on the litany of legal petitions seeking to obstruct the president's re-election when his term expires this autumn.
Under the constitution, a college composed of four provincial assemblies and the parliament elect Pakistan's president. Gen Musharraf intends to seek re-election before the next parliamentary elections throw up a college many expect would be less favourable to him in a fair election.