The May 23 advocate (lawyers) solidarity conference decided to build more public support for the advocate's movement for an independent judiciary and an end to the military dictatorship. The movement erupted after Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was suspended on March 9. The conference vowed to bring more and more people to future demonstrations and rallies.
"Without the participation of the working class, the movement cannot achieve its real goals", was the message echoed again and again.
The conference was organised by Labour Party Pakistan in collaboration with the Labour Education Foundation at the Lahore Press Club and was the "widest and broadest gathering so far in support of the advocates' movement", according to Sardar Asif Ahmad Ali, a former foreign minister and leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). He was one of 35 speakers at the conference.
More than 60 radical organisations participated, encompassing almost all the radical forces of Lahore. Lahore High Court Bar Association president Ahsan Bhoon and secretary Sarfraz Cheema, the main leaders of the movement, spoke in length about the campaign and why they need help from the trade unions, radical social organisations and professional organisations.
Chaired by Talib Nawz, central president of the Pakistan Workers Confederation — Pakistan's main trade union body — speaker after speaker warned participants that this is the last chance to get rid of the dictatorship and it is a matter of life and death.
Several speakers responded to a recent statement by Pakistan's president, General Musharraf, that he will not take off his military uniform because he is so used to it that it is like his skin.
"The skin will be taken off like we do it during the sacrifices of the animal on [Muslim festival] Eid days, but we are not professional butchers, so there will be many cuts on the skin while taking it off, there will be a lot of pain for the general during this process. We are sorry for that but we will take it off in any circumstances, we will not tolerate the military uniform as the president of Pakistan", commented the young and ever fighting Cheema.
The conference tone was very radical and defiant, indicating full support for the movement of the lawyers that has inspired so many people. The conference made it clear that we need to not only change the faces but also to change the system. Speakers sent a clear message to leaders of the political parties and even to the leaders of the advocates' movement that any deal with the military dictatorship will not be accepted. The movement must get rid of the dictatorship.
The common declaration, adopted unanimously by the conference, not only opposed privatisation but also suggested nationalising all industry. The declaration demanded an end to neoliberal policies and demanded a minimum wage of 10,000 rupees (US$170) a month. It demanded Musharraf's immediate resignation, the formation of a transitional government under the representatives of civil society organisations in consultation with political parties, and the formation of an independent electoral commission. The transitional government must organise general elections within three months and hand over power to the elected representatives.
The conference — the first of its kind — was attended by all invited political parties: the Pakistan People's Party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Group), the Awami National Party (ANP), the National Workers Party, Awami Tehrik (People's Movement), Istiqlal Party and Labour Party Pakistan.
ANP general-secretary Ihsan Wain was one of the main speakers at the conference. Twenty-six members of the ANP were killed in Karachi on May 12 by thugs from the United National Movement (MQM) — a semi-fascist group supporting the military government — when supporters of Chaudhry flooded the streets of Karachi to welcome the chief justice. More than 43 were killed in total and many hundreds injured. Wain told the conference that he had fought against three military dictatorships during the past 50 years and that after judging the mood of the people, he is sure that this military government will not survive either. "Join the movement, the days of the dictatorship are numbered. Kick them hard, it is a fight of life and death", Wain said.
Sardar Asif Ahmad Ali categorically denied any deal by former prime minister and PPP leader Benazir Bhutto with the military dictatorship. "I was in Dubai last week on the invitation of Benazir Bhutto. She has asked me to make it absolutely clear that PPP will fight under the leadership of the advocates to get rid of this military dictatorship."
Choudry Gulzar Ahmed, the general secretary of the All Pakistan Trade Union Federation and president of the Pakistan Workers Confederation Punjab; Yousaf Baluch, chairperson of the National Trade Union Federation; Mian Qayum, president of the All Pakistan Textile Workers Union; and several other trade union leaders called on the working class to join the movement.
Several speakers discussed women's participation in the movement and the need to involve more women, including Shah Taj Qazalbash, the convener of the Joint Action Committee for People's Rights; Gulnar of Women's Action Forum; Rabia Bajwa, a former finance secretary of the Lahore High Court Bar Association; Nazli Javed of the Labour Education Foundation; and Azra Shad of the Women Workers' Help Line.
There was a massive presence at the event of electronic and print media outlets, and messages of solidarity from international left organisations were handed over to the representatives of the advocates' movement.
A joint action committee from the Lahore High Court Bar Association decided to meet weekly at the Lahore High Court with representatives of trade unions and social movement organisations to coordinate the movement.