Professional Group of Hamid Khan’s success in the Lahore Bar Association (LBA) elections came as a breath of fresh air for pro-judiciary forces at a time when both the judiciary and the government are vying for the support of lawyers community and bars in battle of nerves on apex court’s judgments.
The victory of Chaudhry Zulfiqar on seat of Lahore Bar Association president is not being seen defeat of his rival candidate Nouman Qureshi but as the defeat of his supporters, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government, former law minister Senator Babar Awan, former Supreme Court Bar Assocation (SCBA) president Asma Jahangir, ex-SCBA president Ali Ahmed Kurd, and Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Kosa who were backing the losing candidate. The last two LBA elections were won by PPP-backed candidates but this year the LBA leadership went to the candidate who enjoyed the ‘good wishes’ of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and like-minded forces amongst lawyers and judiciary.
The fall of pro-judiciary forces started in 2010 when Asma Jahangir won the SCBA president seat with the support of the PPP-led government and the failure of Ahmed Awais of the Hamid Khan Group. Being a lady with a powerful voice, she managed to suppress pro-judiciary Hamid Khan and a majority of lawyers’ gathered under her umbrella in the Friends’ Group. Jahangir enjoyed the support of many former SCBA presidents and was backed by some of the leading lights of the lawyers’ movement such as Ali Ahmed Kurd, Justice (r) Tariq Mahmood and Munir A. Malik.
The air began to blow in favour of the PPP-government and its lawyers continued to win and the Hamid Khan group continued to lose subsequent elections due to the Asma factor. The series of defeats began with the Pakistan Bar Council to the Punjab Bar council and from the Supreme Court Bar to Lahore District Bar, Asia’s biggest bar, with 11670 registered voters, who had dared to battle former military dictator Pervez Musharraf on the roads. Young lawyers led by Asma changed the winds and tilted the tilt in favour. Asma, Babar Awan and their candidates managed to secure defections from retired justices fielded by Hamid against Asma’s candidates. Pro-PPP Yasin Azad, SCBA sitting president, with the support of Friends’ Group, defected the judiciary’s icon Justice (r) Rasheed A Rizvi on October 29 2011.
After the current victory, Professional Group lawyers now hope to regain their lost fame in bar politics after breaking Asma Jehangir’s two-year spell on the lawyers’ community. Now, lawyers have vowed that the ‘old slogans’ of the pro-judiciary lawyers’ movement will not die and continue to attract the imagination of the blackcoats, which had faded silently under PPP-led government’s influence, the influx of huge funds to bars and the grace of Asma. The Professional Group had carved its niche back into bar politics after Asghar Ali Gill’s success for the seat of Lahore High Court Bar president on January 26 2011 by defeating Rai Bashir, a candidate of Friends Alliance. In the LBA polls this year, in addition to Zulfiqar, Professional Group member Jawad Akbar Gill and Syed Asad Zaidi won the two slots of bar’s secretaries, Rana Javed Bashir secured the seat of vice president and Shahdab Masood was elected vice president model town bar, defeating rival Friends Group candidates. Zulifqar received 2208 votes while Nouman received 1867 votes. Another contender for presidential slot Amir Iqbal Bashart obtained 957 votes, came third, was supported by Justice (r) Amir Alam Khan. In a talk on election day (Friday), former SCBA president Hamid Khan appeared confident as if he smelled change before votes were counted. Talking to media, he said lawyers will stand behind the SC against the PPP government’s every unconstitutional move and advised that the PPP government must implement SC orders without delay. Talking to media after winning the elections at midnight, new LBA president Chaudhry Zulfiqar said the bar will the support judiciary and work for the welfare of lawyers, after two years in which no steps were taken to address the problems faced by young lawyers.
