Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's president, has agreed to adjust the balance of power with the prime minister by relinquishing his ability to appoint army chiefs and dissolve parliament. Pakistan's political parties have reached a basic consensus on the move that they say will bolster Pakistan's democratic constitution that has been heavily altered by successive military rulers. "President Zardari said categorically that he will give up those powers as per the wishes of his party and the parliament," said Farhatullah Babar, a presidential spokesman and senior member of the ruling Pakistan People Party (PPP). A 28-member all-party committee was created last week to agree on the "modalities" on how to amend the constitution. Mr Zardari has said he will also honour his pledge to cede the power to appoint provincial governors and impose governor's rule. Earlier this year, Mr Zardari's government provoked a wave of protests by imposing governor's rule in the pivotal province of Punjab that was run by the party of the opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif. He was forced to back down after Mr Sharif joined forces with a movement to restore the chief justice, who had been sacked by Mr Zardari's predecessor, which then marched on the capital. The PPP has already circulated its 80-point amendment proposal, based, it says, on the "Charter of Democracy", a document mapping out a path for a more resilient democracy that was signed by the Mr Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and the PPP in 2006. However, although the main parties have agreed to amend the constitution, Western diplomats say that Mr Zardari is uncomfortable with the idea of ceding so much power. They say that the process may be laborious and be waylaid by internal disagreements among committee members. Mr Zardari wants to restore Pakistan's constitution as it was made in 1973, several years before the late military dictator, General Zia- al-Haq, toppled the PPP government, which was led by Zulfiqar Bhutto. This will involve undoing dozens of changes introduced by successive civilian and military rulers who butchered the constitution to consolidate their grip on power. But the PML-N's "amendment committee" member, Ishaq Dar, said his party but will focus purely at first on removing the imbalance of the powers between the president and the elected prime minister. His party is also bent on removing a clause introduced by Mr Musharraf that prevents Mr Sharif, who has been elected twice as prime minister in the past, from serving a third term."Parties may emphasise different aspects which may make reaching a consensus difficult," said Mr Babar. "We hope there will be no delay. We have taken the lead on the issue." (Telegraph)