Pakistan president-elect Asif Ali Zardari must reverse controversial changes made to the constitution under military rule and restore the powers of parliament, the country's opposition said Sunday.
The call from the party of two-time former premier Nawaz Sharif came after Zardari won more than two-thirds of the ballots cast by lawmakers in Saturday's presidential election. He was expected to be sworn in on Monday.
Former president Pervez Musharraf, who resigned last month, vested vast political powers in the presidency, including the right to dismiss parliament, appoint leaders of the military and make key judicial appointments.
"The criticism against Pervez Musharraf was that he had politicised the presidency," said Ahsan Iqbal, a former government minister and a senior figure in the party of Sharif, who was ousted from power by Musharraf in 1999. "Zardari's first test is that as president he facilitates the transfer of Musharraf's powers to parliament."
Sharif's allies have already demanded that Zardari resign as co-chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the country's largest, in the wake of his victory. "Under the constitution the president is ceremonial and the prime minister is strong," Iqbal said.
"If the centre of power is the presidency then there is a dichotomy like that under Musharraf. He should surrender those powers and resign his political position immediately," he added. The country's second largest opposition party, the PML-Q, which formerly backed Musharraf but fielded its own candidate in Saturday's election, also said power should be centred on parliament.
"The government should take all decisions through parliament," said Mushahid Hussain, who was defeated by Zardari in the vote among lawmakers. Local media also urged Zardari to pare down the powers of the presidency, with the English-language Dawn saying: "It's the absolute minimum he can do to correct the structural imbalance amongst the institutions of the state."