Pakistani police lathi-charged about 27 opposition lawmakers for the second day in a row on Wednesday when they tried to force their way into the Punjab assembly building in Lahore.

They were part of an agitation against President Pervez Musharraf's constitutional amendments. Musharraf had, on August last year, vested himself with overriding powers to dismiss the National Assembly and appoint chiefs of the three services.

The MPS were also briefly detained when they defied the Punjab parliament speaker Afzal Sahi's decision to bar their entry on the ground that they obstructed and hampered the proceedings.

Official television in Islamabad said 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.

Meanwhile, Musharraf held consultations with Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali late on Tuesday to discuss a way out.

The hardline Islamic six-party alliance, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, also resolved to continue its agitation against Musharraf's Legal Framework Orders and asked Jamali to convene a meeting of the leaders of top political parties to reach an agreement.