ISLAMABAD, Dec 30: The combined opposition in the Senate boycotted on Tuesday the proceedings of second and third reading of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, and staged an en bloc walkout of the upper house in protest against what it termed the illegal insertion of the LFO through amendments in the Constitution.

As soon as Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro announced completion of first reading and asked for clause-by-clause ascertainment of the bill, Mian Raza Rabbani of the People’s Party Parliamentarians rose from his seat, and announced that the opposition would not participate in the remaining process.

He said: “We have made our point of view abundantly clear about the process that was going on in the name of passage of the 17th amendment and we dissociate ourselves from the process by rejecting it.”

Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali sent two of his ministers to persuade the opposition to return back.

However, Mian Rabbani, parliamentary leader of the PPP who led the walkout, refused, saying the opposition was convinced that whatever was going on in the name of passage of 17th amendment bill was an attempt to consolidate an individual’s rule and, hence, it could not be a party to the process.

Later, speaking at a joint news conference, the opposition, which was also joined by an MMA Vice President, Prof Sajid Mir, declared the formation of an alliance, Democratic Alliance, in the upper house. The parties include, the PPP, the PML-N, the ANP, the PkMAP, the JWP, the National Party and the Jamiat Ahle Hadith.

The opposition also claimed to have won over a splinter group, the BNP (Awami), to be the ninth party in the alliance.

MMA dissident Prof Sajid Mir said the country had been plunged into an unending constitutional crisis through the 17th amendment.

He said he had not broken away his party from the MMA folds for the time being but he would continue to support the opposition against what he termed the insertion of the LFO through the 17th amendment.

Mian Raza Rabbani said the opposition had boycotted the remaining proceedings of the upper house after recording its point of view on the procedure adopted for the amendment.