Opposition parties in the National Assembly announced on Monday that they would stay away from house business permanently, saying the parliament had lost its usefulness after the passage of the two-offices bill. Opposition parties also agreed to sign a charter under which no party would allow General Pervez Musharraf to continue or welcome any future general as the country's head. After briefly protesting and boycotting house proceedings, opposition leaders told reporters that they had decided not to participate in house business. "We will neither take part in house proceedings nor resign from our seats. We will use this platform to speak out against the dictatorial regime," said Qazi Hussain Ahmad. He said the ruling coalition had openly violated the Constitution and Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad had publicly been talking about a presidential form of government. "It is neither a parliamentary nor a presidential form of government. Army rule has been imposed," he added.Qazi observed that President Musharraf has become controversial and would not be acceptable even if he left the Army. Shah Mahmood Qureshi of the Pakistan People's Party-Parliamentarians observed that policy was being framed outside parliament and it was pointless to sit in the National Assembly. "The government has made parliament into a show-piece for the external world. But, the Commonwealth's recent reaction has vindicated our stance that parliament is not supreme in Pakistan," he added.