ISLAMABAD, 12 June 2008 — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a leading member of the ruling coalition, said yesterday he would join a "long march" for the reinstatement of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf.
Sharif made the comments as he prepared to join lawyer-led protests aimed at pressuring the new government to restore the justices and pushing the US-backed president to resign.
Sharif's party wants the government to order the judges back to their posts. But its senior coalition partner, the party of Asif Ali Zardari, wants to include their restoration in a cumbersome package of constitutional reforms.
Sharif called it a "national duty" of Pakistanis to join the protests. The main procession left the central city of Multan on its way to Lahore yesterday.
"This is a war for democracy and we will win it through democratic means," Sharif said in the capital. He added that the marches should be peaceful and that he would join protesters in Lahore today.
Asked if he would join the opposition benches because of the delay in restoring the judges, Sharif said "my heart also wants the same" but that he could not make such an announcement now.
The deposed chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, urged the demonstrators to "forcefully reiterate their demand for the rule of law, supremacy of the constitution and the independence of judiciary."
The government has vowed to provide tight security for the protesters in Islamabad, where a suicide car bomber last week targeted the Danish Embassy, killing six people.
However, authorities yesterday removed shipping containers that had been placed across the main road to the Parliament building earlier in the week.
Zardari party spokesman Farhatullah Babar declined to say exactly who ordered their removal, but added: "The party thought that we should not appear to be confronting the lawyers. We know that they are responsible people. They will not create a law and order situation." In the eastern city of Lahore, meanwhile, many streets were covered with large portraits of Chaudhry and Sharif.
Various political groups, including Sharif's party, set up stalls to welcome protesters. One large sign said "It will be war until the judiciary is restored.”
Lawyers have been at the forefront of a campaign against staunch US ally Musharraf since he tried to dismiss Chaudhry last year.
Chaudhry and dozens of other judges were purged after Musharraf declared emergency rule in November.
