26 June 2004	Saturday	07 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

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ISLAMABAD, June 25: The opposition parties in the National Assembly on Friday again joined hands against Thursday's bulldozing of the budget by the government and the speaker's alleged partial attitude on the occasion.

They also took serious note of the 'threatening' remarks of President Gen Pervez Musharraf against NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani after the latter had decided to keep away from the National Security Council meeting along with the leader of the opposition, Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

As the proceedings started, all opposition members rose to their feet and launched a noisy protest, asking Speaker Amir Hussain to allow them to speak on the president's remarks and Thursday's unprecedented rumpus during which the budget had been rushed through.

After about half an hour of desk thumping and slogan chanting, the speaker allowed the opposition members to speak when they assured the chair of their cooperation in maintenance of decorum.

A series of resultant opposition speeches forced the speaker to set aside the order of the day, including legislative business and resolutions.

Later, the speaker adjourned the house till Monday afternoon when an amendment Hudood Ordinance Bill would be introduced.

The deputy parliamentary leader of the MMA, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, had an exchange of harsh words with the speaker when he held him responsible for creating unrest in the house by violating the decisions of the House Business Advisory Committee (HBAC).

The speaker asked the MMA's parliamentary leader, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, to speak first.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that the country was passing through a crisis as press reports suggested that the fate of Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali had been sealed.

Mr Jamali responded that though he respected the spirit behind the support the opposition had extended to him, yet he would not take dictation from the opposition for running the parliament business.

He pointed out that maintaining the house decorum was the responsibility of both the treasury and the opposition and said that making noise would help little in taking the parliamentary traditions ahead.

He warned that the treasury benches could also create rumpus but asked the opposition to let the house run smoothly in the best interest of democracy.

The prime minister accused the MMA of going back on its word after signing the agreement under which the NSC was set up through an act of parliament.

Responding to Mr Jamali's remarks, ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim said the opposition too would not take dictation and added that it would extend full cooperation to the treasury if its voice was heard.

He accused the speaker of ignoring the voice of the opposition and said the NSC was a supra-constitutional body which 'we have not accepted and will never accept'.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the acting parliamentary leader of the PML-N, said the speaker should have honoured the decisions of the HBAC meeting. He pointed out that the HBAC meeting, presided over by the speaker, had decided that the budget would be passed on June 28. Yet, he regretted, the speaker allowed the passage of the budget on Thursday.

Mehmood Khan Achakzai of the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party said politicians had no enmity with the army but they were against its involvement in politics.

PPP-Parliamentarians' Aitzaz Ahsan said that opposition's support for Prime Minister Jamali was aimed at safeguarding democracy. He said that keeping in view the negation of the HBAC decisions the ARD had decided that it would not participate in its meetings.

MMA's Liaquat Baloch refuted Mr Jamali's assertions that the alliance had violated the agreement it had signed with the government. He pointed out that while the MMA had voted in favour of the 17th Amendment it had never committed to support the NSC since it had remained a controversial issue in the government-MMA negotiations.

The minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Raza Hayat Hiraj, said the opposition was not showing a matching tolerance as it walked out of the house when a reply to its tirade was given by the treasury benches.

Raja Pervez Ashraf of PPP-Parliamentarians and PML-N's Khwaja Asif and Tehmina Daultana also took part in the proceedings.