ISLAMABAD, 18 March 2008 — Newly elected members of Parliament were sworn in as Pakistan’s 13th National Assembly convened here yesterday. But in a looming sign of confrontation with President Pervez Musharraf, the members were administered their oath of office by outgoing Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain under provisions of an old constitution and not the version Musharraf amended after he imposed emergency rule in November.

Slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto’s party will head a hostile coalition government after winning the most seats in the Feb. 18 vote, with the grouping of former premier Nawaz Sharif as its junior partner.

Security was tight in and around Parliament, with police and paramilitary soldiers guarding the complex and restricting traffic on the avenue outside.

The session began with a recitation from the Holy Qur’an after which 325 members of the 342-seat National Assembly were sworn in. Mourning prayers were also held for Benazir. The house was later adjourned until tomorrow.

PPP member Khurshid Shah told reporters after the session that his party would announce its candidate for prime minister on Thursday. The assembly will meet tomorrow to vote in a speaker.

Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, Benazir’s widower and political successor, signed an agreement this month to form a coalition with a small regional party and a religious party.

Neither Zardari nor Sharif stood in the election but both turned up at Parliament to watch the proceedings together from the visitors’ gallery.

“It’s the first step for democracy. We have sent this message to the world that democracy should be helped and democracy is the last day of dictatorship,” Zardari told reporters. Sharif said the coalition’s strategy was “very clear — our agenda is democracy versus dictatorship. It has to end, it has to be defeated.”

The biggest threat facing Musharraf from the new alliance is its pledge to pass legislation within 30 days to restore some 60 judges whom Musharraf sacked in November under a state of emergency.

Musharraf deposed his archfoe, chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and the other judges to ward off legal challenges to his re-election as president by the outgoing loyalist Parliament in October. If the judges are restored, the Supreme Court could overturn Musharraf’s re-election. Ahsan Iqbal, spokesman for Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) party, told Parliament the election win showed the “people of Pakistan have rejected the step taken on Oct. 12, 1999” — referring to the coup that brought Musharraf to power.

Parliament may also try to amend the constitution to deprive Musharraf of his power to dismiss an elected government.

Musharraf has ruled out resigning, saying he is ready to work with any government and warned against confrontation.

Asked in a weekend interview with Geo Television how he would like to be remembered, he said: “I shall be remembered by the people as a person who has cared for the country, for the people and worked honestly and diligently for them.”

— With input from agencies