ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: Amid an unrelenting opposition to his powers, President Gen Pervez Musharraf prorogued the National Assembly on Tuesday to wind up a controversial parliamentary year that set at least a national record of prolonged noisy protests.

But as members of the assembly prepared to leave for their homes after an 84-day session, opposition parties said they would requisition new sessions of both the houses of parliament to maintain focus on their campaign against the Legal Framework Order.

There was no word yet when the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and their allies would submit their signed requisitions to compel the National Assembly speaker and the Senate chairman to summon their respective houses within 14 days.

An opposition source said the move might come shortly before the end of Ramazan.

The assembly held a 50-minute sitting on Tuesday. It was marked by noisy opposition protests against the LFO and the arrest of ARD President Javed Hashmi and a resolution unanimously passed by the treasury benches praising the president’s “courageous and consistent support” to the war against terrorism and condemning Sunday’s bombing in Riyadh. The resolution was passed after the opposition’s walkout.

The resolution moved by Labour and Manpower Minister Abdul Sattar Laleka condemned “terrorism in all its forms and manifestations” in the country and appreciated the president’s “courageous and consistent support” to the war against terror.

While condemning the suicide bombing in Riyadh, it conveyed condolences to the bereaved families.

The house discussed a resolution against the Karo-kari custom of honour killing and disposed of a call-attention notice about alleged financial shortfall in the government’s literary programme for 2001-05 before Deputy Speaker Sardar Mohammad Yaqub read out the prorogation order.

The sitting was held on the insistence of some ruling coalition members to air their views on certain issues after the house had completed on Monday its mandatory 130 days of session in the parliamentary year.

The parliamentary year had become controversial after the president declined to open it with his address to a joint sitting of parliament because of the anti-LFO protest.

The opposition argued such an address was mandatory under Article 65 of the Constitution, which states: “At the commencement of the first session after each general election to the National Assembly and at the commencement of the first session of each year, the president shall address both houses assembled together...”.

Government circles claimed that the president had a discretion in the matter.

The opposition has regularly engaged in slogan-chanting and desk-thumping against the LFO since the National Assembly held its first sitting on Nov 16, 2002, in the longest such protest in the country’s parliamentary history.

Some opposition members are collecting data from other countries to see whether their protest’s duration is a world record.

Opposition members began chanting “go Musharraf go” and “no LFO no” as they stood in a semicircle in front of the speaker’s rostrum immediately after the day’s sitting began one hour late and walked out of the house 25 minutes later.

They also shouted slogans for the release of Mr Hashmi. Some members of the People’s Party Parliamentarians chanted “Jiay Bhutto”.

Though the ruling coalition says the assembly’s existence has meant the establishment of a democratic order, opposition parties claim their success in exposing what they see as lack of real transfer of power to Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s civilian government.

“The opposition has succeeded to rob the government of the facade of a functioning parliament,” PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.