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Pakistan party moves to cut Musharraf powers

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Pakistan party moves to cut Musharraf powers

Fri May 23, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's main ruling party has drafted a set of constitutional amendments that would erase the legacy of President Pervez Musharraf, its leader said Friday.

Asif Ali Zardari provided few details, but said the reforms would reverse changes made to the constitution since Musharraf seized power in a 1999 military coup.

Those who oppose Musharraf — a stalwart U.S. ally who dominated the country for eight years — want to strip him of his power to dissolve parliament, fire the prime minister and appoint the heads of the armed forces.

Zardari said his party would present the 62-point draft to the prime minister later Friday and send copies to partners in the seven-week-old coalition government.

Zardari is the widower of Benazir Bhutto, whose December assassination helped her Pakistan People's Party to victory in February parliamentary elections.

Zardari said the package could be put to a vote in parliament within weeks, though some observers predict it will quickly bog down in political horse-trading. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority.

Pakistan party moves to cut Musharraf powers - Yahoo! News
 
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PPP’s 62-point plan to cut Musharraf powers, amend constitution

Islamabad, May 23 : Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said that draft of 62 points constitutional package to reduce the powers of President Pervez Musharraf and amend the Constitution has been finalised which will be sent to the Prime Minister, PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif and the coalition parties.

He provided few details, but made clear that the reforms would reverse changes made to the constitution since Musharraf seized power in a 1999 military coup.

Zardari said the package could be put to a vote in Parliament within weeks, though some observers are predicting that it will quickly bog down in political horse-trading.

Addressing a seminar on media freedom, Zardari appealed to his coalition partners for unity.

He evoked the sacrifices of former premier Benazir Bhutto and her father to bolster his party’s claim to lead the struggle for democracy.

Zardari also took a swipe at lawyers who are threatening to mount massive street protests next month unless the judges are reinstated.

“We have a little seniority over other newfound democrats,” Zardari said in remarks directed at the lawyers.

“We will solve your issues, but let us solve them politically. Don't try to tell us how to run politics,” The Dawn quoted him, as saying. (ANI)

PPP’s 62-point plan to cut Musharraf powers, amend constitution | Top News
 
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PPP to undo Constitutional amendments done by previous regime

Islamabad, May 23 : The PPP is learnt to be planning to incorporate as many as 20 amendments in the Pakistan Constitution through the new constitutional package its is preparing, but it is not yet clear how it would get the package passed through the Parliament as it lacks requisite numbers in both the Houses – National Assembly and the Senate.

Among the 20 amendments said to be proposed by the party in the constitutional package, it intends to undo the earlier amendments done by the erstwhile regime led by President Pervez Musharraf.

“Most of the previous amendments to the basic document over the past few years would be undone, and for this purpose over 20 articles would be drastically changed,” an official privy to the draft constitutional package said.

On the other hand, after walking out of the coalition government, the PML-N seems to have decided not to support a constitutional package which doesn’t talk about restoration of sacked judges, including deposed chief justice Iftikhar Chowdhary.

“Make no mistake, we would support no package unless the deposed judges are restored first through a resolution in parliament without any discrimination as we have been pressing since long. If we were to vote for such a package that would seek the reinstatement of the sacked justices the way the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) likes, our coalition with it would not have received a severe jolt,” The News quoted a senior PML-N leader as saying.

Similarly, a top PML-Q leader said that his party would also not back any constitutional package unless it was framed according to its policy. “We will not toe the PPP line and act as an independent political party.”

Without the backing of the PML-N or the PML-Q, the PPP, even with the collaboration of its allies, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the Awami National Party (ANP), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) and independents, is in no position to pass the 18th Amendment in either house of parliament, said the paper.

PML-N also thinks that it might be a gameplan to Zardari to show that he can’t fulfill PML-N’s demand of restoring the sacked judiciary. “When in the end PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari would not be able to garner the requisite two-thirds majority in either or both houses of parliament after moving the 18th Amendment, he would conveniently say that he can’t amend the Constitution because he doesn’t have the required figure. This would further delay the restoration of the sacked judges, and this is what the PPP chief wants,” said an unidentified PML-N leader.

But, the PPP pooh-poohs this idea, saying that it is unjustified to doubt its intentions. “Anybody who wants real parliamentary democracy must support the new constitutional package as it will dispense with gross distortions in the Constitution,” one PPP leader said.

Federal Minister Qamaruzzaman Keira said that the PPP’s effort is to have ‘some attractions’ for all major parliamentary actors so that they agree to vote for it. “When the package will be unveiled, the PML-N would definitely extend support to it because it would also include its demands,” he added. (ANI)

PPP to undo Constitutional amendments done by previous regime | Top News
 
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And the stock market crashed with 1 Billion rupees vanishing from the Pak economy overnight...
 
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As an academic exercise, I wonder if people have discussed in detail how fruitful these rapid shifts in policy really are. On one hand I understand that democracy has just returned to Pakistan and the abuse of powers of prior military dictators is in fact a sore point. But on the other hand, it's also evident that in Pakistan, the primary problem hasn't been the literature of the constitution; rather the ability to even remotely adhere to its principles and the constant ad hoc amendments to retrofit the current ruler's administrative doctrines.

Taking that into consideration, I hope that someone in the governments is doing a cost/benefit analysis prior to revising the constitution yet again. I am not against fixing the Constitution to make it more democracy-friendly; I just hope its done in a sensible manner so as to avoid total socio-political upheaval which historically has served as the perfect interjection point for dictators. Perhaps it would be wiser to set up plans which make changes systematically one section at a time.
 
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