THE two slogans to signify the purpose of the long march that Supreme Court Bar Association President Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, the moving spirit behind the struggle to restore the deposed judges, announced at a press conference in Lahore on Sunday are: "Join us, we have come out to save the country" and "Go Musharraf go". Considering the fact of the people's clear verdict against the President, on the one hand, and his stubborn resistance to conform to it, on the other, the purpose of the long march that is expected to be joined by lawyers and other concerned citizens from all parts of the country becomes, indeed, laudable. And Ch Ahsan's call to all and sundry to join in the struggle sounds quite justified. As urged by him, it is extremely necessary for the participants to maintain a peaceful atmosphere for the success of the movement. It is unfortunate, though, that those sections of society, which want the rule of law to prevail in the country, should have to plead their cause before a democratic government. PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Zardari's commitments, both written and verbal, to restore the judges and compel the President to call it a day, have obviously come up against certain reservations. These reservations are a sad commentary on the state of our leadership's political consciousness that demands it to keep its fingers on the pulse of the people's feelings and readily bow to them rather than make compromises on such vital issues to achieve any other hidden purpose. It would be a great tragedy and an inexcusable setback to the process of the development of democracy in the country if the noble cause were to suffer because of the inability of certain forces to have the courage to take forthright decisions.