ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: Acting President Mohammedmian Soomro on Tuesday signed the 'President to Hold Another Office Bill-2004' that allows President Pervez Musharraf to retain the office of the chief of army staff beyond December 2004.

The move has effectively put to end a controversy that erupted after President Musharraf left for his visit to Latin American countries without signing the bill. The bill would come into force on Dec 31, 2004.

The bill was rushed through the National Assembly and adopted by the Senate on Nov 1 in the absence of the opposition which boycotted the session after describing the bill as a negation of the constitution as well as the parliamentary system of government.

Talking to Dawn, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the bill had been signed by the acting president and the legal process for the bill to become an act of parliament had been completed.

Sheikh Rashid brushed aside remarks that the acting president had no authority to sign the bill, and said that those who made such remarks had no idea about the law. In addition to the dual-office bill, the acting president had also signed many other bills on Tuesday, he added.

In the past also, acting presidents had been signing bills and taking decisions, Sheikh Rashid said. Those opposing the signing of the bill by the acting president are of the view that his assent was a violation of constitutional provisions.

Under Article 75 (1) of the constitution, the president is required to sign a bill within 30 days of its passage by parliament. If a bill is not signed by the president within the stipulated period, it is returned to parliament under Article 75(2). In case parliament passed it again, the president cannot withhold his assent.

MOVE HAILED: President Gen Pervez Musharraf welcomed on Tuesday a new law passed by parliament which would enable him to continue as army chief despite earlier pledging to relinquish his dual post, AFP adds from Sau Paulo (Brazil).

Asked about the law, which was enacted in Pakistan earlier on Tuesday, President Musharraf told reporters it represented 'continuity and sustainability'. Gen Musharraf had seized power after toppling then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, in a bloodless coup in October 1999. The new law puts no time limit on how long he can hold both positions although his term as president is meant to end in 2007.

The Pakistani leader spoke on the sidelines of a breakfast here with Brazilian and Pakistani business executives. He is due to continue his official tour of Latin America.

The bill enabling him to continue serving as head of state and army chief, which had been adopted by parliament on Nov 1, comes less than 12 months after Gen Musharraf said he would shed his military uniform by the end of 2004 and become a civilian leader. The new law puts no time limit on how long President Musharraf, a key ally in the US war on terror, can hold both positions.

OUR STAFF REPORTER ADDS FROM ISLAMABAD: Former vice-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Ikram Chaudhry, has described the signing of the bill by Mr Soomro as unprecedented, and said that acting presidents or acting governors never took important decisions because they were appointed only to clear routine matters.

The famous judges' case of 1996 had made it clear that acting chief justices could not take important decisions, he said. Mr Chaudhry said the signing of the bill was also a gross deviation from the Zafar Ali Shah case in which the Supreme Court, while legalizing the October 12, 1999, military take over, had held that the basic structure of the constitution, namely the parliamentary form of governance, independence of judiciary, Islamic provisions and the fundamental rights of the people could never be amended.