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Pak reforms package gives more powers to prime minister

PTI, AFP, Islamabad
A package of proposed constitutional reforms drafted by Pakistan's ruling PPP aims to give only prime minister the powers to authorise the use of nuclear weapons or to declare war, apparently in a bid to prevent situations like the Kargil conflict of 1999.
The reforms package, approved with certain modifications by PPP Chairman Asif Ali Zardari Saturday, has been provided to the party's allies in the ruling coalition to get their views.
Law Minister Farooq Naek met PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif in Lahore yesterday morning to dis-
cuss the proposed constitutional amendments.
Under the changes outlined in the package, which is expected to be introduced in parliament soon, only the prime minister will have the power to declare war or authorise the use of nuclear weapons, official sources told Dawn News channel.
The move to give only the prime minister the powers to declare war is aimed at preventing the Pakistan army from repeating Kargil-like operations, the sources said
Some analysts believe the move will also help in preventing religious leaders from issuing 'fatwas' or decrees for waging jehad'.
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During the Kargil conflict in early 1999, then prime minister Sharif claimed the army did not take him into confidence about the operation.
Though President Pervez Musharraf, who was then the army chief, has contested Sharif s claim, the PML-N chief has continued to insist that he was in the dark about the operation. Sharif recently said Musharraf should be tried in court for his role in the Kargil operation.
AFP adds: Pakistan's election commission yesterday cleared the way for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother, a former chief minister, to contest June 26 by-elections, officials said.
The Sharif brothers were not allowed to take part in February 18 elections after the commission cited criminal convictions dating back to events surrounding a 1999 coup and pending criminal charges.
"All objections raised against the nomination papers of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif have been rejected and now they can contest by-elections,'’ a spokesman for the commission told AFP.
Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party has joined forces with slain former premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which won the most seats in the February polls, in which President Pervez Musharraf s allies were trounced.
A number of constituencies are set to hold by-elections, mostly after candidates' deaths or because politicians gave up seats after winning in more than one constituency.
The ruling coalition is increasing the pressure on Musharraf to quit and they are mulling a constitution amendment package to clip the wings of US-backed president.
Sharif, a two-time prime minister. was ousted by Musharraf in a 1999 military coup.