President hands PM nuclear arms role

President Asif Ali Zardari has transferred control of the country’s nuclear weapons to the prime minister in an apparent move to blunt criticism of his excessive authority and head off demands for his resignation.
Passing chairmanship of the authority that oversees Pakistan’s nuclear weapons from the president to the prime minister makes little practical difference to Pakistan’s nuclear programme, which remains under the military’s control. But analysts say it is the first sign that Mr Zardari is willing to yield part of his authority.
The president is under pressure to replace some of his key aides who escaped prosecution on corruption charges under a controversial amnesty that expired at the weekend.
“This change [of authority] does indicate President Zardari’s willingness to surrender some of his powers in line with popular demands,” said Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US and the UK.
The amnesty, introduced in a presidential decree by former president Pervez Musharraf under a deal with Mr Zardari’s Pakistan People’s party (PPP), benefited as many as 8,000 people who had faced corruption charges, including Mr Zardari and four cabinet ministers.
On Sunday night, senior government officials said a new period of political discord might begin soon if opponents of the amnesty launched street protests agitating for all of its beneficiaries to be prosecuted.
Mr Zardari cannot be prosecuted because of an immunity granted to anyone elected as president. But if his close political allies were prosecuted, it could weaken his leadership – which is seen as central to plans by the US and other western powers to stabilise Pakistan’s long border region along Afghanistan.