Islamabad, May 28: Pakistani police today lathicharged and detained about a dozen opposition lawmakers for the second day in a row today when they tried to force their way into the local assembly in Lahore as part of their agitation against President Pervez Musharraf's constitutional amendments.
Police blocked 27 lawmakers and other opposition workers from entering the Punjab assembly building in Lahore and resorted to lathicharge when they refused to relent, reports from Lahore said. The MPs were also briefly detained when they defied the Punjab parliament Speaker Afzal Sahi's decision to bar the entry of 27 lawmakers on the ground that they obstructed and hampered the proceedings. Official television reported that the Punjab assembly later passed a resolution criticising the opposition agitation on the constitutional amendments. The resolution moved by a ruling party member also said that Musharraf's continuation as President and chief of Army was "inevitable" and necessary for the progress of the country. This is the first time that the controversy over Musharraf's amendments has spread to provincial assemblies. As the trouble spread, Musharraf held consultations with Prime Minister Mir Jafarullah Khan Jamali last night to discuss a way out. Meanwhile, the Islamist Alliance, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal last night resolved to continue its agitation against LFO and asked Jamali to convene a meeting of the leaders of top political parties to reach an agreement. Bureau Report