Zardari ready to cut down President's sweeping powers

London: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed his readiness to trim the sweeping powers of the Presidency and return to the 1973 Constitution.
"The package of constitutional reforms will be introduced and ... shall be passed with the support of the requisite majority in both Houses of Parliament," Zardari, who has faced severe criticism from the opposition over the issue, said.
He said the Constitutional package his government has proposed to political parties not only entails eliminating the president's power to sack democratically elected government but also restored to the government all powers that had been usurped by military dictators in the past. Zardari said he had outlined the proposals in this regard to the National Assembly recently. "I once again reiterated my commitment to return to the basic structure of our 1973 Constitution. I fully understand this entails giving up very significant powers of my office," he said.
In a wide-ranging interview to The Independent, Zardari claimed that Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies were "behaving responsibly" and respecting the sovereignty and legitimacy of the elected government.
He also sought to blame the international community for many of the ills besetting his country, saying the world had been slow in funneling assistance to Pakistan.