Pakistan's parliament is meeting for the first time since General Pervez Musharraf seized power in a coup three years ago.
The parliament opened in controversy as MPs protested at changes in the constitution, which have given Musharraf more powers. Many refused to take the oath as the General won five more years in power.
The convening of today's assembly is meant to herald a return to civilian rule in a country ruled by generals for more than half its history since independence in 1947, but Musharraf, who is head of the army, will still wield real power.
Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, suspended the constitution when he overthrew elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in October 1999.
He has now revived the constitution but with enhanced powers such as the right to dismiss parliament and allowing the military a role in overseeing the work of a new government.
A 342-member assembly elected on October 10 convened shortly after Musharraf was sworn in and looked set for a stormy session, with rival parties split both over who should lead the government and Musharraf's constitutional changes.
Religious parties which hold the balance of power immediately set the tone, insisting from the floor on taking oath under the constitution as it stood before it was amended.
"We want to make it clear that we are taking the oath under the original 1973 constitution," said Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, one of the leaders of the six-party Islamic alliance.
Former speaker Illahi Baksh Soomro, who presided over the session, insisted not a single comma of the original oath in the 1973 law had been changed and the swearing in went ahead.
Musharraf secured his fresh term through an April referendum analysts say was heavily rigged in his favour. The election was also controversial as key figures, including Sharif and another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, were barred from standing.
Dressed in a traditional long coat, or sherwani, rather than his more usual military uniform, Musharraf was sworn in by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, which had legitimised his rule after the 1999 coup but told him to hold elections.