Lawyers’ march enters final phase

By OUR PAKISTAN CORRESPONDENT

Islamabad

June 11: Formally seen off by deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Wednesday, the "Long March" by lawyers to demand the reinstatement of the Supreme Court judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf has entered its final stage.

On Wednesday, the lawyers’ caravan from Sindh and southern Punjab reached Lahore. On Thursday, the caravan led by Supreme Court Bar (SCBA) President Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan would leave for Islamabad from Lahore high court Bar. Lawyers’ caravans from Peshawar and Quetta would join lawyers in Islamabad under the leadership of Peshawar high court bar president Latif Afridi and Ali Ahmed Kurd respectively.The main demonstration would be held in Islamabad on June 13. The march is likely to include over 1,000 vehicles carrying lawyers from South Punjab and other parts of the country, including Sindh and Balochistan.

In Islamabad, a high-level meeting presided over by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday night reviewed in detail the arrangements made to ensure that the lawyers’ march was peaceful and orderly. Supreme Court bar association president said that the "Long March" will target Parliament.

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Japan PM faces censure motion

Tokyo, June 11: Japan’s Opposition on Wednesday slapped an unprecedented censure motion on Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, dealing him a stinging rebuke weeks before he hosts the Group of Eight summit.

The censure, driven by Opposition to a hugely unpopular medical plan that raises costs for many elderly people, is the first to be approved in Japan’s Parliament under the post-World War II Constitution but has no legal force.

"Without a change of government, it is impossible to reverse the negative legacies" of years of rule by Fukuda’s Liberal Democrats, Opposition legislator Azuma Koshiishi said. —AFP