Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has summoned a joint meeting of the cabinet and the National Security Council (NSC) on Tuesday to finalise major constitutional amendments. The meeting was called after Musharraf, who is seeking a a five-year extension of his presidency through a referendum on April 30, two days ago said that he has decided to bring in the amendments well before the general elections scheduled to be held in October this year, media reports said. The new amendments, which according to the officials would outline a new power sharing arrangements among president, prime minister and the army chief with system of checks and balances, would be made operational soon after the referendum and would be in place well before the October general elections.
The amendments were being drafted and finalised by Musharraf's legal advisors as well as the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) headed by a military official.
His proposed constitutional amendments were strongly opposed by the mainstream political parties saying that the president in the first place has no authority to arrogate himself with the power of parliament to bring in the amendments, which were aimed at strengthening his own power base in the army. The proposed amendments were aimed at giving a strong role to the NSC in the country's decision making process, which was originally vested with parliament, cabinet and the Prime Minister.
Bureau Report