Syed Ali Shah:
QUETTA: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in his address to the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, recalled the deep emotions he experienced when condoling with the legal community after the devastating terrorist attack in Quetta that claimed the lives of many lawyers. “I remember when tears ran down my face as I came to share the grief of a generation of lawyers lost,” he said, emphasizing his connection with the people of Balochistan. “I have not come from Lahore or Islamabad; I am one of you. We have been fighting this struggle at the cost of life for the last three generations,” he added.
Bilawal criticized former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, and highlighted the sacrifices of PPP leaders who spent years behind bars for the supremacy of parliament and the constitution. He asserted that the lawyers’ movement was a planned one, and lamented that his party could not form constitutional courts due to external pressures while signing the Charter of Democracy. Bilawal stressed that parliamentary democracy offers solutions to societal issues, with the Senate ensuring fair representation for all provinces. He advocated for the formation of constitutional courts to safeguard democratic values.
However, his proposal faced pushback from Afzal Harifal Advocate, President of the BHC Bar Association, who disagreed with the notion of parallel courts. He questioned why the idea of constitutional courts was raised now, before October 25, and not during the announcement of the Charter of Democracy in 2006 or the passage of the 18th Amendment. Harifal urged the PPP Chairman to uphold the existing constitution and avoid creating parallel judicial systems.
