LAHORE, Feb 27: Ruling PML parliamentarian S.M. Zafar on Sunday added his voice to opposition's call that the army should withdraw from politics, but also sought an enactment to bar such politicians from staying in the profession as have been inviting the army to take over power.

Speaking at a seminar organized by a local daily, Senator Zafar said on many an occasion it was the politicians who had invited the army to take over. Such people should be disallowed through legislation to stay in politics, he said.

PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Husain was to preside over the seminar. However, he did not turn up, presumably because of other engagements. The organizers kept his chair vacant till the end of the function.

Opposition leader in the Senate, Raza Rabbani, MMA's Liaquat Baloch and Hafiz Husain Ahmed, and PML-N MNA Maimoona Hashmi were among the other speakers. Senator Zafar said politics should be left to politicians and the army should return to its real duty. He supported the call for more powers to provinces, and said the ruling party had already made some headway in the direction.

He said there was no reason for pessimism about the future of the country, as tremendous progress was being made in all fields. Senator Raza Rabbani strongly opposed the plans to launch a military action in Balochistan. He said the PPP had taken a similar step during its rule but failed to achieve the desired results.

He said the rulers should learn a lesson from the PPP's experience and desist from going for a military action in the country's most thinly-populated province. Mr Rabbani said there was a deep-rooted sense of deprivation in Balochistan and the people felt as if it was not part of the federation. He said the situation should be resolved through political talks.

He was critical of the president's threat that those responsible for creating trouble would not even know what had hit them. He said strong-arm methods might bring temporary relief but they would ultimately trigger a storm which nobody would be able to control.

Referring to the recommendations made by a parliamentary committee to bring the Balochistan situation under control, the PPP leader said they lost relevance when the Baloch leaders resigned from the committee. He said 'ex-parte' decisions had little worth in such situations. He also underlined the need for more provincial autonomy.

The PPP leader recalled that inter-provincial harmony was one of the seven-point agenda of Gen Musharraf when he had taken over power in 1999. But five years down the line disharmony among the federating units was at its peak, he said.

He said the law and order was something alien to Sindh and the worsening situation could be gauged by the serious allegations the chief minister and the former revenue minister had traded. He said it was ironical that the NAB accused were occupying important positions in the government.

Mr Rabbani said all policies were being given to benefit a few trading houses. According to MNA Maimoona Hashmi, the military rule had always had adverse effects on the country and the Musharraf rule would not be any different. She believed that under political leadership the country could make rapid progress.

He demanded action against those who violated the constitution. Maimoona, the daughter of incarcerated PML-N leader Javed Hashmi, was of the view that the unity of the federation would be affected in case Ms Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif were not allowed to come back.

MMA leader Liaquat Baloch criticized President Musharraf for his assertions that nobody should impose his opinion on others. He said the view had come from a man who had imposed himself on the country.

He said mega projects planned for Balochistan were depriving the common man of his source of livelihood. Similarly, he said, instead of resolving the Balochistan situation through political means the rulers were using brute force, realizing little that it could ring alarm bells for the country's unity.

The MMA leader said Gen Musharraf should resign as president and the Senate chairman take over as acting president. Then, he said, elections should be held under the supervision of an independent election commission.

The religious alliance, Mr Baloch said, wanted to unite the democratic forces for the protection of the two-nation theory. Another MMA leader, Hafiz Husain Ahmad, said only the parliamentary system could save the country.