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Top military appointments, assemblies’ dissolution

President ready to surrender key powers to PM

* Kaira says Zardari wants to hand over some authority to parliament
* No rift between PPP, PML-N g Govt determined to eliminate terrorists

LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari is willing to curtail presidential powers given under Article 58(2b), Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Tuesday.

Kaira told a private TV channel that the president wanted to hand over some of the authority to parliament, and was also ready to transfer the powers related to the dissolution of assemblies and the appointment of services chiefs to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. He said the president wanted continuity and stability in the parliamentary system.

No rift: He said there was no rift between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Replying to a question, he said Zardari and Nawaz Sharif had agreed to prepare a draft of constitutional amendments in light of the Charter of Democracy (CoD), but they had not given a deadline for this purpose.

“At his meeting with the president, the PML-N chief did not bring up anything related to the third time bar on prime minister’s election ... he called for the resolution of issues between the two parties according to the CoD,” the information minister said, adding that there was no threat to the democratic system.

Govt determined: Kaira said that the government was determined to eliminate terrorists from the country. “We are moving in the right direction ... we are not conducting an operation in Waziristan on others’ directions,” he said.

He said the government wants to lead efforts for a free and independent media. daily times monitor/app

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