Ending a protest over Pakistan's sacked judges without a sit-in in the capital, Islamabad, was an "honest mistake", a leading lawyer has said.
The rally last week was supposed to have been the high point of a lawyers' campaign to restore judges sacked by President Musharraf in November.
But it ended early on Saturday morning without any calls for further action.
Lawyers' leaders have since come under severe criticism for the low-key conclusion from their rank and file.
"The termination [of the protest] without staging a sit-in was a big mistake that benefited Mr Musharraf and his cohorts," Hamid Khan, one of the lawyers' top leaders, told reporters in Islamabad on Monday.
The rally to Islamabad - dubbed the "long march" - brought protesters in convoys of buses and cars to the capital and was expected to lead to an indefinite protest outside parliament until the judges were restored.
Nearly 60 judges of the higher judiciary were sacked by President Musharraf when he imposed emergency rule in the country on 3 November.
A Pakistan Bar Council statement said the top lawyers' body would "analyse the long march to avoid mistakes in future".
Thousands of lawyers, civil society activists and political workers braved harsh summer heat during the week-long motorcade across the country.
'Sell-out'
Lawyers' leaders argued that parliament could have been forced to issue a resolution to restore the judges by decree.
The country's second biggest party, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), also held this view.
The PML-N pulled out of the federal cabinet last month when its senior partner in the coalition - the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - refused to restore judges by decree, saying a constitutional amendment was needed.
The PPP also favours the retention of the current judges - both the lawyers and the PML-N want them sacked.
Lawyers' leader Aitzaz Ahsan announced plans for the "long march" last month to put pressure on parliament.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif also joined forces with the lawyers.
But during his speech to the gathering in Islamabad on Saturday night, Mr Sharif advised against a sit-in, fuelling allegations of a sell-out and creating unrest among the crowd.
Aitzaz Ahsan, who spoke last, spent most of his time reasoning with an unruly section of the crowd who wanted a sit-in and an end to the judges' saga.
He told the crowd that the organisers of the event did not have funds for a prolonged sit-in.
Hamid Khan said the decision to "hastily conclude the march was taken by one individual without taking the organising committee of the event into confidence".
He said this sudden termination "should be construed as an honest mistake".
Ending a protest over Pakistan's sacked judges without a sit-in in the capital, Islamabad, was an "honest mistake", a leading lawyer has said.
The rally last week was supposed to have been the high point of a lawyers' campaign to restore judges sacked by President Musharraf in November.
But it ended early on Saturday morning without any calls for further action.
Lawyers' leaders have since come under severe criticism for the low-key conclusion from their rank and file.
"The termination [of the protest] without staging a sit-in was a big mistake that benefited Mr Musharraf and his cohorts," Hamid Khan, one of the lawyers' top leaders, told reporters in Islamabad on Monday.
The rally to Islamabad - dubbed the "long march" - brought protesters in convoys of buses and cars to the capital and was expected to lead to an indefinite protest outside parliament until the judges were restored.
Nearly 60 judges of the higher judiciary were sacked by President Musharraf when he imposed emergency rule in the country on 3 November.
A Pakistan Bar Council statement said the top lawyers' body would "analyse the long march to avoid mistakes in future".
Thousands of lawyers, civil society activists and political workers braved harsh summer heat during the week-long motorcade across the country.
'Sell-out'
Lawyers' leaders argued that parliament could have been forced to issue a resolution to restore the judges by decree.
The country's second biggest party, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), also held this view.
The PML-N pulled out of the federal cabinet last month when its senior partner in the coalition - the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - refused to restore judges by decree, saying a constitutional amendment was needed.
The PPP also favours the retention of the current judges - both the lawyers and the PML-N want them sacked.
Lawyers' leader Aitzaz Ahsan announced plans for the "long march" last month to put pressure on parliament.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif also joined forces with the lawyers.
But during his speech to the gathering in Islamabad on Saturday night, Mr Sharif advised against a sit-in, fuelling allegations of a sell-out and creating unrest among the crowd.
Aitzaz Ahsan, who spoke last, spent most of his time reasoning with an unruly section of the crowd who wanted a sit-in and an end to the judges' saga.
He told the crowd that the organisers of the event did not have funds for a prolonged sit-in.
Hamid Khan said the decision to "hastily conclude the march was taken by one individual without taking the organising committee of the event into confidence".
He said this sudden termination "should be construed as an honest mistake".
