PESHAWAR, March 29: The majority of lawmakers in the NWFP Assembly have demanded that the federal government withdraw the Police Order 2000, which, according to them, is a negation of the Police Act and an encroachment upon provincial autonomy.

Speaking on the demerits of the Police Order 2000, Abdul Akbar Khan of the People's Party Parliamentarians said that the Police Order was a parallel law, which had deprived the federating units of their constitutional rights.

"The police have been a provincial subject. Each province has its own laws which would deal with the police force, but the previous military regime had deprived the provinces of this very right", he added.

He said that Gen Pervez Musharraf, who was chief executive of the country in 2000, had inserted some of the provincial concerns, including the police force, into the 6th Schedule of the Constitution and hence vested them with the federal government. The provinces, he said, could not make any amendment to the Police Order, 2000, as it had been given protection under the 6th Schedule, he added.

Mr Khan said that it was, perhaps, the only law which couldn't be changed or amended by the provincial assemblies. Before it was implemented anywhere in the country, the government had placed a ban on bringing any amendment to it, he added.

After the promulgation of the Police Order, Mr Khan said, the provinces were faced with an uncertain situation. "The Police Acts empower the chief ministers, but under the Police Order, the provincial police officersenjoy all the powers", he added.

What would be the fate of the Police Act after the enforcement of the Police Order, he posed a query. He said the provincial assembly could make changes in the Police Act, but it could not touch the Police Order, authored by the military rulers.

The Police Act and the Police Order, he feared, would overlap one another and make a mess of the security system. Two separate laws could not be enforced at a time.