Asif Zardari wants reforms to curb his power

Islamabad: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari called on Monday for parliament to approve reforms that will see him give up his main powers, while issuing a veiled warning to the judiciary not to overstep its authority.

Parliament is expected to pass the constitutional amendments, long demanded by the opposition, this week. They will effectively turn Zardari into a titular head of state while empowering the Prime Minister and parliament.

Analysts have said the reforms should take the wind out of the sails of the unpopular Zardari's many critics but he still faces legal dangers from a judiciary determined to revive old corruption cases against him and many of his allies.

"I call upon the parliament to pass the eighteenth constitutional amendment bill without delay," Zardari said in an address to a joint session of the two-chamber parliament.

"The people of Pakistan are keenly watching and waiting for this crucial reforms bill to pass," he said.

Zardari, widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, came to power after February 2008 elections that ended nine years of military rule.

He and a coalition government led by his party have been beset by problems including a raging Islamist militant insurgency, a sagging economy and tension with old rival India.

The transfer of powers, including the ability to dismiss parliament, appoint military chiefs, judges and the election commissioner, should go some way to silencing Zardari's critics, many of whom assumed he would never agree to the changes.

But even as a ceremonial president, Zardari would yield considerable influence from his position as head of the Pakistan People's Party, the country's largest party, analysts say.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, a staunch Zardari party loyalist, will emerge as the powerful head of the government after the reforms are adopted.

Danger

The biggest danger for Zardari remains old graft charges revived when the Supreme Court threw out a 2007 amnesty introduced by former president Pervez Musharraf as part of a proposed power-sharing deal with Bhutto.

The charges against Zardari stem from the 1990s, when Bhutto served two terms as prime minister. He says the charges were politically motivated and although he spent 11 years in jail, he was never convicted.

Although his aides say he is protected from any prosecution by presidential immunity, analysts say he is vulnerable to legal challenges to his eligibility to have stood for president.

In an apparent reference to the judiciary, Zardari called on all to uphold the supremacy of the constitution. "This requires that each pillar of the state work in its constitutional limits, and does not trample on the domain of others," he said.

"For stability and development, each organ of the state must work within the parameters of the constitution. We believe in reconciliation, and not confrontation," he said.

In a wide-ranging speech, the president also promised to fight militants challenging the writ of the state, adding that no one would be allowed to use Pakistani soil for attacks on other countries.

In the latest violence, militants using a car bomb and firing weapons attacked the U.S. consulate in the city of Peshawar on Monday, hours after a suicide bomber killed 38 people elsewhere in the northwest.

Zardari also called for "an honourable and peaceful settlement of all outstanding disputes" with old rival India.

"We do not want an arms race in the region," he said, while noting that Indian defence spending did not help the cause of arms reduction.

He also promised to improve the economy and help the poor.