Lawyers manhandle TV cameraman: Lawyers divided over Aitzaz election bid | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Lawyers manhandle TV cameraman: Lawyers divided over Aitzaz election bid

RAWALPINDI: Lawyers were divided over Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan’s decision to contest the by-elections during a joint meeting of the Rawalpindi District Bar Association and Lahore High Court Bar Association’s Rawalpindi chapter on Monday.

The meeting passed a resolution urging SCBA President Aitzaz Ahsan to contest the by-elections. The resolution, tabled by Taufiq Asif, said the RDBA office would be Aitzaz’s election office and lawyers would bear the cost of his election campaign. But Sajjad Akbar Abbasi opposed the resolution, saying that Aitzaz should not contest the elections unless the deposed judges were reinstated.

He said the Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) stance on the judges’ issue was not clear and that PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari and Farzana Raja were against the judges’ restoration. He said Aitzaz would follow the policies of the PPP if he won the election on the party’s ticket. Lawyers from the PPP began to protest against Abbasi’s comments and a quarrel began, during which some of the lawyers fought with a TV cameraman seeking a clearer view.

The journalists then walked out of the bar room to boycott the proceedings but RDBA Secretary General Sajjid Tanoli and former joint secretary Shahbaz Ahmed Rajput negotiated with them and persuaded them to end the boycott. The journalists returned to cover the event after a delay of about 30 minutes and were greeted with slogans.

Rajput said some elements were conspiring against the lawyers and had tried to sabotage the meeting. “It seems the episode was pre-planed,” he said.

Important: Addressing the gathering Aitzaz said lawyers’ unity was more important to him than contesting the by-elections. He accused “certain quarters” of conspiring against him to stop him from contesting the elections and thanked the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for its support.
Source: Daily Times
Date:5/6/2008