Pakistani MPs curb Zardari's powers

09/04/2010| IslamWeb

Pakistan's National Assembly has unanimously passed a set of constitutional reforms curbing the powers of Asif Ali Zardari, the president, and transferring them to the prime minister and parliament.

Zardari backed the amendments on Thursday, which still need the approval of the Senate.

The final vote total was 292-0.

Yusuf Raza Gilani, the Pakistani prime minister, said the move had made the parliament sovereign.

"You have made parliament supreme today. We did politics of reconciliation," Gilani told the chamber amid applause. "Today the entire nation is united."

The amendments, crafted by parliamentarians from both ruling and opposition groups, will turn Zardari into a ceremonial head of state.

But analysts say he still will maintain his hold on the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and keep Gilani's loyalty.

Powers lost

Two of the biggest privileges of past presidents - soon to be lost by Zardari - were the power to dissolve the National Assembly and appoint the heads of the armed forces and judges.

Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, the former president, introduced these powers in the 1980s to maintain control of the government.

In the 1990s, the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies were dissolved three times, ousting the governments of former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.

A leader in the main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N - the party of Zardari's chief rival, Nawaz Sharif - urged the government to focus on resolving chronic problems, including inflation, power shortages and unemployment.

The military has ruled Pakistan for about half of its 63 years of independence.

PHOTO CAPTION

This handout photograph released by the Press Information Department shows Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani addressing the parliament in Islamabad.

Al-Jazeera