LAHORE- Local lawyers Monday received with great shock the news about failure of talks between PPP and the PML(N) on the restoration of judges, sacked through a PCO issued by the Army Chief on November 3 last. Lawyers had kept their hopes alive till the last moment and believed the coalition partners were acting sincerely for the judges reinstatement which they viewed not a difficult proposition particularly after the PPP leadership's statements in support of the PML(N) stance which was very clear from the day one. But the gestures and statements made later on by the PPP leaders, caused a deep concern to the community. It further aggravated when the PPP insisted on brining a constitutional package for the restoration of judges in the face of the fact that, for that purpose the required 2/3rd strength in the Senate that was not available and it could be made possible only through getting the support of MQM and PML(Q) which simply meant, accepting General Pervez Musharraf a legitimate president, as well as his action of sacking the judges valid. Which the PML(N) was not ready to accept. While the lawyers also did not accept General Pervez Musharraf as the constitutionally elected president of the country and termed malafide his action of chopping off the part of the judiciary which was hearing the case relating to his candidature in uniform on November 3. From the inception of the coalition, the legal fraternity has been pointing its finger at the Aiawan-e-Sadar for its involvement in a conspiracy to break the coalition, and the judges' issue was a handy tool to serve the end. They were also alarmed by the reports on some PPP functionaries contacting with the presidency allegedly to keep the President abreast of the on-going talk with a view to lowering his concerns arising out of the likely restoration of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary as Chief Justice of Pakistan with the same powers he held on November 2 last. Now when they feel the dust has been settled on the issue after breakdown of the talks and separation of the PML(N) from the rule, they are poised to frame their own future line of action to resume their struggle on a fresh note with high spirits. For this purpose, Pakistan Bar Council is meeting on May 16 in Lahore and the following day, it is holding a lawyers representatives conventions to strike a consensus line of action on the future struggle of the lawyers which so far, is limited to weekly one-day complete boycott of courts and protest meetings and rallies and daily one-hour token courts boycott and huger strike camp. While talking to this scribe, former President SCBA Hamid Khan appeared depressed on the failure of the talks and said, things were intentionally made difficult by a coalition partner. In his view, despite the stance taken by Asif Ali Zardari, they feel the majority in the PPP leadership felt the reinstatement not so such a difficult task as Zardari had thought it to be. Senior jurist and human rights activist, Asma Jahangir told this scribe that in the restoration move the PPP was playing a partisan role as the real motive of this party was not the independence of the judiciary but retention of Justice Dogar, which was also the strong desire of the Establishment. Other factors, she said, also show a 'bond' between the PPP leadership and the Presidency as poised to break the backbone of the existing new phase of democracy when the fact is, no democracy can work unless the judiciary is independent. She said the PPP would be responsible if the coalition completely broke down for the retention of which, she added, PLML(N) and the lawyers had shown remarkable patience. She said any party going along with Musharraf would never prove itself to be a strong group in the public eye and will remain his subordinate. She said she did not believe what Zardari did was also the choice of other leaders of the party who kept their commitment to the lawyers movement and democracy. She said even a PPP worker was tremendously committed to democracy, so there would be a number of members in the Cabinet who would feel distressed under the situation; however some others would be satisfied for they don't have any political commitment and are serving their vested interest for which they are in the folds of the cabinet. She said she cannot believe that just two months after formation of the government the whole PPP leadership had put its heart behind Zardari's decision, taken just to retain Justice Dogar in the office. She said things have changed, so has the public perception also. As to lawyers movement, she said, it would continue, for it had, not only motivated the masses with respect to their rights but also emboldened them to speak head high before the dictatorial forces.