March 16, 2003	Sunday	Muharram 12, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, March 15: In a quick response to an opposition request, Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain on Saturday called a National Assembly session for Tuesday that could see more noisy protests against sweeping presidential powers.

A brief announcement by the National Assembly Secretariat said the 342-seat lower house had been summoned to meet at the parliament building in Islamabad at 5pm on Tuesday.

It said the speaker acted under clause (3) of Article 54 of the constitution, which empowers him to summon the assembly session to meet within 14 days of receiving a requisition signed by at least one-fourth of the total membership of the House. Only the speaker can prorogue such a session.

The new session was called only five days after the president prorogued the first regular session of the five-month-old assembly following obstructive opposition protests against his Legal Framework Order (LFO) during three successive sittings.

The opposition parties had sent a requisition on Wednesday for a fresh session, only two days after Monday’s indefinite prorogation, which the speaker said was meant to give the rival parties more time to settle their differences over the LFO.

But opposition sources said no meeting between the two sides had been held after the initial contacts on Monday.

The opposition seemed to be caught by surprise by the speaker’s announcement although the requisitioned session could be delayed until March 26.

Political sources said the move seemed aimed at sparing Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s possible embarrassment due to opposition protests when he is in China and the United States later this month.

SENATE REQUISITION: The opposition parties on Saturday also filed a requisition for a new session of the Senate, which was prorogued on Wednesday after its inauguration.

In an apparently related development, Prime Minister Jamali met President Musharraf on Saturday when government sources said they discussed matters relating to the strengthening of democratic institutions.