ISLAMABAD Dec 11: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) will support a government of national consensus if it was brought in by keeping the present parliament, but was also ready to go into snap polls if called as a last resort to resolve the political impasse.

MMA's parliamentary leader in the Senate Prof Khurshid Ahmed said this while speaking at a news conference here on Saturday.

He told a questioner that MMA would continue its struggle for upholding the constitution and parliament's sovereignty but any stepping in by the army during the struggle would be illegal, unconstitutional and immoral.

About the latest utterances of MQM chief Altaf Hussain against the two-nation theory, Mr Ahmed, who is also deputy chief of Jamaat-i-Islami, said this question should better be directed to General Musharraf as this party was part and parcel of his rule.

He denied that his party had ever collaborated with the army or shared power, saying "we have opposed all wrongdoings and supported positive actions of every government".

Prof Khurshid said the religious parties' alliance had planned countrywide agitation to force General Musharraf to shed his military uniform and fulfil the constitutional requirement of the 17th Amendment which had been passed as a result of an MMA-government agreement.

He said the issue of dual offices, despite the fact that the National Assembly and the Senate had passed a bill to legitimize it, remained a menacing challenge to the political system.

He said the position of General Musharraf would also become disputed if he violated the provision of the 17th Amendment. The nation would then demand a re-election of the president, he added.

He said the shedding of uniform was a quid pro quo, something the PML negotiator in the LFO talks Senator S.M. Zafar had also acknowledged in his book. If that very provision was violated, the whole 17th Amendment will become ineffective and redundant.

This piece of legislation would remain a bad law, illegal and unconstitutional if the president continued to hold the office of the COAS beyond December 31. The 17th amendment would fall to the ground endangering the whole system, he said.

He criticised President Musharraf for what he called showing flexibility on Kashmir.