SUPREME Court Bar Association President Qazi Anwar has said that the lawyers community would stop Parliament from putting the power of appointment of judges in the hands of politicians. Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Qazi Anwar was also scathing about those who had kept national wealth in accounts in Spain and Switzerland. He was making a plain statement in favour of the Chief Justice of Pakistan retaining the power of recommending appointments which the executive, in this case the President, would follow religiously. The SCBA chief also made clear by this statement where the lawyers community would stand if the parliamentary committee presently examining the Constitution were to recommend, as has been said by some, a fresh method of appointment which placed appointments to the superior judiciary in the hands of the political leadership. On principle, Qazi Anwar is not to be faulted. The appointments to the superior judiciary must not be placed at the behest of any politician, if the judiciary is to have the independence that is sought for it by a people in search of speedy and cheap justice, or else politicians will have control of the justice system as well. It must not be forgotten that the present impasse has been created by politicians using the levers of power given to them by the electorate to retain the ill-gotten gains of past corruption and avoid judicial accountability. The executive should also keep in mind the Supreme Court has long adopted the Basic Features Doctrine, and thus is willing to strike down constitutional amendments, not just other legislation. The executive should thus not risk a resumption of the controversy so recently ended. It must also avoid a resumption of the lawyers movement, which saw the CJ restored. That movement also saw a political party throwing its weight behind it, and only then it succeeded. The government thus has the responsibility of maintaining the peace, which it can only do by retaining the present system of judicial appointments.