Pakistani coalition prepares to hobble Musharraf

By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's ruling party aims to push a set of constitutional changes through parliament in coming weeks to clip President Pervez Musharraf's powers to dismiss the government, the law minister said.

After seizing control in a bloodless coup as a general in 1999, Musharraf single-handedly ruled Pakistan for more than eight years until February elections, when the defeat of allies left him isolated without parliamentary support.

The new coalition government, led by the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, aims to curb Musharraf's authority, already diminished by his resignation from the powerful position of army chief in November.

Bhutto's widower and political successor, Asif Ali Zardari, made a pact with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to restore the judges sacked by Musharraf after imposing a brief period of emergency rule in November.

Sharif, who pulled his party out of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's cabinet last week to protest over Zardari's foot-dragging, wants the judges brought back immediately and unconditionally.

Zardari wants to link their reinstatement to a constitutional amendment that Law Minister Farooq Naek told Reuters has now been prepared.

The thrust of the changes will be to give the elected prime minister more power, and make the judiciary more independent.

"We have proposed repeal of the 58-2 (b) to maintain balance of power between the president and prime minister," Naek told Reuters, referring to the clause that gives the president the right to dismiss a government.