A bill that will allow Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to continue as army chief formally became an act Tuesday after acting President Mohammad Mian Soomro signed it, Online news agency reports.
The bill will facilitate Musharraf's holding of the offices of president and chief of army staff simultaneously beyond 2004.
Soomro, the chairman of the Senate, signed the bill in his chambers in the presence of senior officials of the presidency.
The bill will come into effect after Dec 31 and will apply to Musharraf alone.
Soomro is currently acting president in the absence of Musharraf, who is visiting Latin American states on an official tour.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told Online that the dual-office bill was sent to Musharraf Nov 1 for his approval but since the president was out of the country, Soomro had signed it.
He said following the endorsement by Soomro, Musharraf was constitutionally authorised to hold the offices of army chief and president beyond Dec 31.
He said the senate chairman had the constitutional powers to sign the dual-office bill in the absence of the country's president.
Rashid said objections raised by some legal experts in this regard were incorrect.
The minister said the president was supposed to sign the bill within 30 days of receiving it and the same had been done within the stipulated period.
--Indo-Asian News Service