Islamabad: Pakistan's Acting President Muhammad Soomro today (Nov 30, 2004) signed into law a Controversial Bill allowing General Pervez Musharraf to hold the dual posts of President and Army Chief beyond this year despite his pledge to shed the uniform.

The Bill, earlier passed by both Houses of the Parliament, was signed by Soomro, also Senate Chairman holding the post of Acting President in the absence of Musharraf, who is currently touring the Latin American countries, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told media persons in Islamabad.

The new legislation has cleared the way for Musharraf to hold both the offices at least till 2007, when the term of his Presidency expires. It does not mention any timeframe for him to shed the uniform.

Meanwhile, Opposition parties, which have launched a nationwide protest campaign against the General demanding him to shed the uniform, have questioned Soomro's authority to sign such an important Bill.

Apparently, Musharraf was apprehensive of signing the Bill himself after he was advised about the legal problems, as the Constitution stipulated that the President should not sign any order that solely benefited him.

Though Musharraf himself has not yet formally said that he would continue to retain the uniform beyond December 31, the date he set last year to relinquish the post of Army Chief, Rashid said that the President would continue in both the offices despite the agitation by the opposition parties demanding that the General should stick to his word.

"The President will continue to hold both the offices beyond this year. I have been saying this all along," Rashid told 'Geo TV'. Later, he told the official media, "after the signing of the Bill, the process of the President holding the two offices has been completed."

Rashid also rejected the Opposition parties' argument that the Acting President was not authorised to sign the Bill. "Under the law, acting President can take all such decisions which the President is authorised to make," he said.

The Minister said that the Acting President had already been taking all such decisions and singing the Bills. "Therefore, the signing of a Bill by the acting President is legally and constitutionally right."

The Islamist alliance Muttahida Majlis-e Amal (MMA), which endorsed Musharraf's constitutional amendments package on the understanding that he would quit as Army Chief by December 31 this year, has begun organising mass rallies demanding him to honour his word and shed the uniform.

The mainstream opposition Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), comprising of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), was yet to announce its plans to join MMA in launching a united movement against Musharraf.

While the ARD was apprehensive that MMA could compromise with Musharraf like it did last year, the PPP, headed by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, is currently evaluating its own stand viz a viz Musharraf after the release of Bhutto's jailed husband Asif Ali Zardari on bail. His release was seen as a ploy by the Government to keep the opposition divided.