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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail More Yahoo! Services Account Options New User? Sign Up Sign In Help Yahoo! Search web search Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Pakistan lawmakers approve landmark reforms AFP - 1 hour 41 minutes ago Send IM Story Print ISLAMABAD (AFP) - – Pakistan's national assembly on Thursday unanimously approved reforms stripping President Asif Ali Zardari of key powers in a move to bolster parliamentary democracy weakened by military rule. The historic 18th amendment, which rolls back four decades of infringements by military rulers on Pakistan's 1973 constitution, is expected to sail through the upper house of parliament as early as next week and then pass into law. The package reverses sweeping powers amassed by former military dictators Pervez Musharraf and Zia ul Haq and could ease political instability in the nuclear-armed country on the front line of the US-led war on Al-Qaeda. All 292 lawmakers present at Thursday's session in the 342-member national assembly voted to approve the bill. No one voted against. A jubilant Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani declared that parliamentary democracy was now being restored as MPs slammed fists on desks in celebration after shouting "hang Musharraf, hang" when his 1999 coup was declared illegal. "The impossible has been made possible by the house today," Gilani told lawmakers. "We have been saying we will go to the Westminster-style parliamentary system... Today we removed the anomalies. We are giving you a parliamentary form of government with balance of power between president and prime minister." Under the constitutional reforms, Zardari will no longer have the power to dismiss the prime minister, dissolve parliament -- as enacted multiple times in the past -- or appoint the head of Pakistan's powerful armed forces. The bill also abolishes a clause which bars the election of a prime minister for more than two terms. This would allow popular opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, who was toppled by Musharraf in 1999, to become premier again. The package, which grants greater autonomy to smaller provinces also renames North West Frontier Province, dating back to British rule, Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, to honour the wishes of its Pashtun-majority population. The amendment has been hailed as a rare success for cross-party cooperation in Pakistan and is supported by Zardari, who has urged lawmakers to approve the amendments without delay, hailing the package as a "crucial reform bill". It will effectively make Zardari a titular head of state who can only formally appoint heads of the armed forces, dissolve the national assembly and appoint provincial governors on the advice of the prime minister. Among other reforms, courts will no longer be able to endorse suspensions of the constitution, a judicial commission will appoint judges and the president will no longer be able to appoint the head of the election commission. Although the bill has been widely welcomed by the political elite and the media, it is unlikely to improve Zardari's popularity among the masses, who are wilting under crippling power cuts, inflation and fears of militancy. It may also build pressure on the government to reopen graft cases against Zardari, although as co-chairman of the Pakistan People's Party to which Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani belongs, the head of state will remain powerful. Political analyst Jafar Ahmed, of Karachi University, welcomed the unanimous vote and rare cross-party consensus but said now the government must deliver. "It should display good governance and take long and short-term measures to bring down inflation and resolve the power and water shortages," he said. "The bill has been approved unanimously at a time when it appeared the nation was in total disarray -- which shows the politicians can reach a consensus. "President Zardari would like some praise for surrendering his powers but challenges will remain." Although Zardari is immune from prosecution while in office, the supreme court is putting pressure on the government to reopen scores of graft cases at home and abroad, after it scrapped an amnesty shielding politicians. Tainted by corruption allegations, Zardari is nicknamed "Mr Ten Percent" and spent 11 years in jail on charges ranging from corruption to murder, although he was never convicted on those charges. 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