Islamabad, Dec. 4 : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari could find his powers clipped further as the Special Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms has proposed chopping off the President’s powers concerning the appointment and removal of the Prime Minister.

The committee also suggested restoration of the prime minister’s powers as the chief executive laid down in the 1973 Constitution, The Dawn reports.

It also proposed repeal of three of the eight clauses of Article 91 and revival of the Constitution to its original status of 1973.

Lahore, Dec. 2 : Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Anwar Qazi has asked all ministers and bureaucrats who were benefited by the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to resign, , adding that following the expiry of the controversial amnesty law, President Asif Ali Zardari’s nomination on the post is now ‘open to question’.

Addressing a Press conference after the maiden meeting of SCBA’s executive body, Qazi said the apex court would decide Zardari’s candidature.

Islamabad, Dec. 2 : US President Barack Obama briefed Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari about the new Afghan strategy just before announcing a surge of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

A statement issued by the government here, said: “Obama mentioned the broad outlines of the policy a few hours before its launch and reaffirmed US commitment to a long-term partnership with Pakistan for security and stability.”

The White House also released the details of the conversation between the two leaders.

Islamabad, Nov 30 : Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Monday said he, and not President Asif Ali Zadari, is running the country.

Zadari is under growing pressure to relinquish his sweeping powers that the premier is envisaged to have in the country's original constitution.

"I should tell you that I am the chief executive and the chief executive is the head of the government," Gilani said in an interview with DPA.

Islamabad, Nov 30 : An American expert on South Asian affairs has said that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is on the way out of power following his decision to handover key responsibilities to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

“Zardari is in a slow road to the exit. He can''t easily survive politically, but it will likely be a constitutional process that pushes him out,” Politico quoted the expert, as saying.

Lahore, Nov. 30 : Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has that President Asif Ali Zardari to abolish the 17th Amendment of the Constitution and relinquish most of his powers.

The Independent quoted Sharif as saying that Zardari should, without delay, renounce his powers to fire an elected government and appoint military chiefs.

Islamabad, Nov. 29 : Perturbed by the increasing differences between the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and coalition partner the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), President Asif Ali Zardari has met National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza thrice in the past twenty-four hours to help him resolve the crisis.

According to sources privy to the developments, Mirza has advised Zardari to end the hostility between the coalition partners, as a threat to the democratic government looms large.

Islamabad, Nov 28 : Pakistan is set for a tremendous amount of internal churning with some 8,000 prominent individuals losing the waiver they have received from corruption charges.

The Supreme Court will now take up a batch of petitions to decide the fate of the benefits drawn by prominent politicians, army officers and bureaucrats from the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that lapsed Saturday.

More importantly, the apex court will rule on the scope and parameters of the constitutional immunity Asif Ali Zardari, an NRO beneficiary, has from prosecution as the president.

Chandigarh, Nov 28 : Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Saturday laughed off an episode in which a jailed terrorist called up Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and other top officials posing as Mukherjee that virtually brought nuclear neighbours to the brink of a war last year.

Mukherjee did not say much when asked about recent reports that Pakistan-based terrorist Omar Sheikh, who was released after an Indian Airlines plane was hijacked in December 1999, had called up top officials of the Pakistani government and the army after the
26/11 Mumbai terror attacks last year.

Islamabad, Nov 28 - Pakistan's beleaguered President Asif Ali Zardari has amended a key law to relinquish the executive control over the country's nuclear weapons to the prime minister.

The change in the structure of the National Command Authority (NCA) came late Friday as part of 28 ordinances that Zardari had to reissue which otherwise would have lapsed after midnight Saturday under a Supreme Court ruling.

Islamabad, Nov. 28 : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has rejected reports about Pakistan playing the role of a mediator in talks between the US and the Taliban.

“We are getting this news through the media ... Pakistan is not on board (over this issue),” The Daily Times quoted Zardari, as saying.

Islamabad, Nov. 28 : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has transferred the powers he held as the chairman of the National Command Authority (NCA) to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, thereby handing over the nuclear command to him.

“The shedding of powers by the president was effected through re-promulgation of the National Command Authority Ordinance of 2009 and also amending it,” a statement issued by Zardari’s spokesman, Farhatullah Babar said.

Islamabad, Nov. 28 : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the controversial 17th Amendment of the Constitution would be abolished in December, adding that any final decision in this regard would be taken only after consulting all the concerned parties.

“We wanted to abolish the 17th Amendment from day one, but we wanted to do it through a unanimous decision, as the 1973 constitution was also approved unanimously,” Zardari said.

Islamabad, Nov. 27 : Concerned by the verbal warfare between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), President Asif Ali Zardari has asked the party leaders to avoid giving statements against the MQM.

According to the sources, Zardari called Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Provincial Interior Minister Zulfiqar Mirza and directed them not to make remarks against the MQM.

Islamabad, Nov 26: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has appointed Justice (retired) Rana Bhagwandas as the chairman of the Federal Public Service Commission
(FPSC) under Article 242 (1) (1A) of the Constitution.

The post of the chairman of FPSC had been vacant since the retirement of former chairman Lt. Gen. Shahid Hamid, eight months ago.

Lahore, Nov 26: The collapse of a pact granting immunity from corruption charges to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has abruptly weakened his chances of becoming the first civilian leader in country''s 62-year history to finish a term in office.

However, Zardari fired back at his critics at a political rally in Karachi, marking the 42nd anniversary of his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and said: “To those who are trying to bring down this government, I will say that all your efforts will be in vain.”

Islamabad, Nov. 26 : A Pakistani inmate had made hoax calls by the name of the then Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee to President Asif Ali Zardari and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, which heightened tension between the two countries following the Mumbai attacks.

The caller named Omar Saeed Sheikh had made the calls threatening the Pakistani leadership from inside the Hyderabad jail, investigations have revealed.

Islamabad, Nov 23 : President Asif Ali Zardari Monday asked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to review the names of all those who had benefited from an ordinance granting immunity to prominent Pakistanis charged with corruption.

Gilani was also asked to remove the names of those who had been wrongly included in the list, Zardari said during a meeting with the prime minister at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, Online news agency reported, quoting sources.

Islamabad, Nov. 23 : The undeclared cold war between the Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani came out in the open, when top presidential aides expressed their strong opposition to the PM-signed law ministry order, which named them as beneficiaries.

The News quoted President’s secretary general Salman Faruqui, as saying: “The innocent continued to be maligned with the guilty ones even after 12 years of media trial and no effort was being made to separate the two.”

Islamabad, Nov. 23 : Even though Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is a man nobody likes, he is politically immune to any possible ouster on the pretext of being an NRO beneficiary because he is the president of the most important political party in the country, experts say.

“He’s a man nobody likes, but the fact is, he is the president of the most important political party, which was popularly elected,” The New York Times quoted Pervez Tahir, a political expert, as saying.