ISLAMABAD (March 10 2010): President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said the 1973 Constitution would be restored in its real form by the end of next month if the reforms process is completed by the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms headed by Senator Raza Rabbani.

Addressing the award ceremony of All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) here, the President said he himself surrendered the power of Command and Control Authority to the Parliament. Zardari lauded the role of media for the restoration of the democracy. He said Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto had sacrificed their lives for democracy. He said substantial progress was made pertaining to investigation into the killing of Benazir Bhutto.

Zardari said some political forces had advised him to boycott the elections following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. But the Pakistan People's Party decided against the boycott and as a result the country has democracy today.

He said PPP government had allowed import of paper print in 1988. He said that criticism is the beauty of the democracy and also guides the government on time. The President said the government has constituted a committee of the APNS to resolve the issue of advertisement.

According to official handout, President Zardari expressed the hope that the constitutional reforms package will be finalised by the end of current month. Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said a misunderstanding had arisen whether the President had spoken of constitutional reforms by the end of the current month or end of the next month. The spokesperson said President Zardari has all along hoped that the Constitutional reforms will be finalised this month.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2010