President Pervez Musharraf’s plan to seek another fiver-year term in the upcoming election sparked massive protests in major cities across Pakistan, with thousands of lawyers demonstrating against the “regime’s fascist practices” on Monday.

Lawyers are opposing Musharraf’s “illegal” re-election bid and staged demonstrations over the weekend, but security forces violently broke up the protests, leaving dozens of people injured.

The head of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Munir Malik, said thousands of lawyers are boycotting court proceedings and holding rallies across the country to protest against the authorities’ “practices of suppressing any dissenting voice.”

Reports from Pakistan said hundreds of lawyers and supporters gathered on the streets of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi and other cities Monday.

Monday’s actions come after thousands of media workers staged similar protests on Sunday after more than 20 journalists have been beaten up by police forces near the Election Commission office.

Lawyers and opposition political blocs are arguing that the chief of army staff doesn’t have the right to run for president in military uniform and urged the Supreme Court to disqualify Musharraf from the race.

Meanwhile, the same Supreme Court ordered the government to suspend the capital’s police chief, his deputy and a senior civil administrator for allowing the use of excessive force against demonstrators over the weekend.

This directive represents another blow to the government led by Musharraf, after criticism continues to come from opposition members for the regime's oppressive actions. The general has been criticized for dismissing Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry without a firm legal basis earlier this year.

Chaudhry was later reinstated after mass opposition rallies in his defence, however he wasn’t part of the panel that rejected the petitions filed by the opposition and challenged Musharraf’s eligibility to seek re-election while holding a dual role.

Now, Musharraf has a clear path ahead and is expected to lead the country for five more years after Saturday's vote by parliament and regional assemblies.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid party has enough power to give Musharraf another term, even if most opposition parties threatened to leave the parliament in protest.