Shahbaz Sharif asks Zardari to relinquish powers immediately

Pakistan Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that president Asif Ali Zardari should abolish the 17th Amendment of the constitution, and relinquish most of his powers.

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

Recently, in an attempt to ease some of the mounting pressure, the beleaguered Pakistan president had announced that he was transferring command of the body, that oversees the country's nuclear arsenal, to prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

While the move may have been largely symbolic, as the army controls Pakistan's warheads, Zardari also promised to surrender other key powers by the end of the year.

However, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shahbaz Sharif pointed out that Zardari had made similar promises in the past, and that he should act now.

“I would ask the president to immediately abolish the 17th Amendment. The nation would appreciate this act,” Sharif was quoted as saying.

Zardari, who inherited far-reaching presidential powers from his predecessor Pervez Musharraf, had promised that those powers would be transferred to the prime minister.

But Zardari has repeatedly been accused of dragging his feet and refusing to meet his promises.

Zardari's vulnerability is further exacerbated by the expiry of an amnesty protecting him and several allies from prosecution over long-standing corruption allegations.