Zardari’s powers clipped by ‘historic’ 18th Constitution Amendment bill draft

ISLAMABAD - In what could further clip the powers of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari , the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms (PCCR) has signed the draft of the 18th Constitution Amendment bill.

The Amendment bill proposes the transfer of powers from the Presidency to Parliament and the Prime Minister House.

The Parliamentary committee led by Mian Raza Rabbani has finally approved all 93 amendments proposed in the bill despite the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif raising objections over some of the amendments, saying a consensus between all the stakeholders was a must.

The PML-N and the Awami National Party (ANP) had differed on some of the issues, including that of renaming the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

The committee has proposed the name of Khyber-Pakhtunkwa for NWFP, The News reports.

The draft also proposed removal of dictatorial amendments, and abolition of the name of former President General Zia-ul-Haq from the Constitution. However, it has no mention of General Pervez Musharraf, who had also amended 26 articles of the Constitution through his ‘dictatorial’ 17th Amendment.

According to sources, the proposed draft would be presented in the National Assembly and Senate on Friday while the process of legislation is likely to start from next Tuesday, following the President Asif Ali Zardari’s address to the joint session of the Parliament on Monday. (ANI)