LAHORE, June 30: Opposition legislators in the Punjab Assembly strongly opposed a resolution Law Minister Raja Basharat had sought to move on the last of the 15-day budget session on Wednesday to congratulate PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Husain on assuming the exalted office of the prime minister with support from 190 MNAs.

Opposition leader Qasim Zia, deputy opposition leader Rana Sanaullah Khan and MMA leaders Arshad Baggu and Asghar Ali Gujjar said in their respective speeches that there was no justification for a resolution as the man installed as prime minister had been overshadowed by Gen Musharraf and would stay in office only for 45 days.

The real man, they said, would be Shaukat Aziz who would succeed the leader from Gujrat and had already been nominated by the COAS-President. In their stinging barbs they targeted Gen Musharraf, Shaukat Aziz and even National Security Council Adviser Tariq Aziz, regarded as the architect of most of the plans attributed to the president.

Chaudhry Shujaat came under fire for the role he would play during the transitional period to 'beautify the bride of power' for the next 'groom'. The helplessness of the civilian rulers, the centralization of all powers by Gen Musharraf and dangers to the system in case the military's dominance continued also came under discussion in the house.

Opposition parties hold the ruling party responsible for the present situation while the ruling party praises Gen Musharraf as the man who restored democratic system and brought into being the assemblies where the opposition has also substantial representation.

If Gen Musharraf is calling the shots, which is a fact, the question is who had brought him to this position. All parties, which were participating in the movement against then prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, can't absolve themselves of the responsibility.

In 1999, their struggle against the PML-N government was at its peak. They were branding Mr Sharif as a security risk and demanding the constitutional institutions play their role.

At a time when Mian Nawaz Sharif enjoyed a two-thirds majority in the house and the president was his handpicked man no more than a figurehead, there was no constitutional way to remove him.

And what opposition parties, some of which are now allies of the PMl-N in the ARD, were demanding clearly amounted to seeking military intervention. Some leaders said this on many an occasion that anybody succeeding Mr Sharif would be better than him.

Unfortunately, Mr Sharif took a bad decision of sacking the army chief which provided the institution an opportunity to take over. Whatever the views of various opposition parties, now it will take them quite some time to get rid of the "unwanted blanket".

They have to blame themselves for the situation the country has been passing through since October 1999. Although MMA Secretary-General Maulana Fazlur Rehman is opposition leader in the National Assembly, Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat thinks that the religious alliance is not clear whether it belongs to the opposition or is an ally of the ruling party.

Raja said in the assembly on Wednesday that the religious alliance should follow a clear policy. MMA leader Asghar Gujjar said the alliance was part of the opposition, though at the federal level it reserved its right to take decisions according to the requirement of the situation.

The MMA's credibility has been dented after the elections and the electorate don't believe that the religious alliance is part of the opposition. Its role in the adoption of the 17th Amendment strengthened suspicions that it was out to the help the rulers.

The MMA repeatedly said that it did not accept the LFO as part of the Constitution, but ultimately changed its point of view. In an agreement with the ruling party, the MMA suggested a way for Gen Musharraf to legitimize his presidency. But when he followed the course, the MMA did not vote for him.

There was a provision in the MMA-PML agreement that there "shall" be a National Security Council, which will be set up under an act of parliament. But when the enactment was introduced, the MMA refused to support it.

Another contradiction in its attitude came to be seen when Maulana Fazlur Rehman refused to attend the NSC meeting under the chairmanship of the very general the MMA had helped become legitimate president.

The argument that the MMA will not like to participate in a meeting being presided over by a man in uniform holds no water. Gen Musharraf presides over the meeting as president, not the COAS, and thus there was no justification for MMA secretary-general to stay away.

Abstention could have been justifiable in case Gen Musharraf doesn't take off his military uniform by the end of the year. That the prime minister should head the NSC is an argument, which carries no weight.

What difference will it make if a prime minister -- who feels proud to be called president's PSO -- heads such a body. As long as people in uniform are there in the NSC, their opinion will prevail, no matter whether the body is headed by the president, the prime minister or anybody else.

Whether the MMA violated its agreement with the PML-Q and whether it is binding on Gen Musharraf to step down as army chief by Dec 31, will become crystal clear when Senator S.M. Zafar's book on the subject is published during the next couple of months. The book deals with the talks held on the 17th Amendment and may make public many facts not known to the public so far.

MMA leader Arshad Baggu and minister Mushtaq Kiani used very derogatory words for each other in the house. They could have come to blows if some colleagues had not intervened. The house was prorogued on Wednesday and every member won entitlement for allowances worth Rs146,450.