ISLAMABAD, July 12: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Friday assured that prime minister would enjoy “total power” to run the country’s affairs without the interference of the president and the army chief.

“I want to assure you that if Article 58(2)(B) is restored in the Constitution, I will not be arbitrarily exercising my powers to sack the prime minister and the issue will be decided in consultation with the proposed National Security Council,” he stated.

“But a rubber stamp president will be highly dangerous for the country. Therefore, his powers need to be enhanced and under these circumstances NSC’s role will be very important and very effective.”

The purpose is to ensure good governance and avoid the pre-1998 situation when corruption was rampant and misrule was witnessed everywhere in Pakistan, he said in his address to the nation broadcast by PTV and radio.

The NSC, the president announced, would be expanded by inducting the leader of opposition into it with a view to reaching consensus on major national issues.

But the prime minister, he assured, would enjoy all the powers to have his own foreign policy, Kashmir policy, Afghan policy, and economic and other policies.

In his 70-minute speech, the president talked about the proposed constitutional amendments, the law order situation with particular reference to the anti-terrorist hunt, and the economic situation.

He tried to remove the impression that through the proposed constitutional amendments he planned to usurp the powers of the prime minister and thus wanted to weaken democracy and the democratic process.

“Believe you me I am not power hungry. I only want checks and balances to avoid, once and for all, the imposition of martial law in the country,” he said. The purpose is to stop the army from interfering in the political affairs, he added.

However, he maintained, the Constitution would certainly be amended as his government had been given the mandate by the Supreme Court to do so. “But I assure you that the basic structure of the Constitution will remain unchanged.”

Recalling the country’s political history during 1988 and 1998, he said had all the former prime ministers played their roles efficiently and honestly they would not have been dismissed by various presidents under Article 58(2)(B).

Each time, he said, the army chief was invited to intervene to resolve the differences between the president and the prime minister. “I am personally witness to it as the Director-General of Military Operations in the GHQ in 1992 that every time the army chief was dragged into the political affairs.”

The president claimed that there were four occasions when martial law was about to be imposed during the last 11 years.

He regretted that the proposed NSC was being painted as a supraconstitutional body. He clarified that the NSC would not be any kind of legislative or executive body and that its purpose would be to ensure checks and balances among the three power brokers — the president, the prime minister, and the army chief.

He was of view that the country would suffer if the president was weak. “And if the prime minister does not behave then there will be malfunctioning and that is why I say that the creation of the NSC is necessary,” he said, adding that in the presence of NSC, the opposition, too, would not be allowed to create unnecessary problems for the government.

Gen Musharraf said that many amendments had been proposed but a final decision about them would be taken in the light of people’s views for which he would shortly be meeting politicians, intellectuals, and journalists.

“But I would not chew words to say that Article 58(2)(B) will have to be restored in the Constitution as it would be good for the country.”

Nevertheless, he added, issues like the appointment of the prime minister by the president and that of the chief ministers by governors were debatable and there could be certain changes in those proposals.

He said the issues like reducing the term of the Senate from six to four years and that of the National Assembly from five to four years could also be finalized through consultations with all the stakeholders.

He said that one of the objectives for proposing amendments was to remove inter-provincial disharmony and offer greater autonomy to provinces.

The president said that a number of institutions required to be protected constitutionally and mentioned in this behalf the State Bank, National Accountability Bureau, Fiscal and Monetary Board, and Federal Public Service Commission. Foreign currency depositors would not have lost their $11 billion in 1998 if the central bank was a constitutional body, he added.

He called upon the people not to criticize personalities and talk about issues so that certain national interest could be served by introducing certain amendments to the Constitution.

Gen Musharraf said he was in favour of forging national consensus on vital issues and added that the amendments would be finalized with active participation of people. “And that is why radio, TV and newspapers are full of discussion about the amendments.”

“I myself plan to talk about these amendments on radio and TV,” he said, adding that people should remain cultured and decent while criticizing the proposed amendments.

The president repeatedly said that he was not deceiving the nation and that the people should have all trust in him.

One thing, he pointed out, was clear: nobody would be allowed to indulge in corruption or reverse political and economic reforms introduced by the government during the last two-and-a-half years.

He regretted that democracy had been confined only to elections which was why it could not be sustained. “People have only been cheated during the last 11 years and we do not want to see that thing happen again and that is why a system of checks and balances is being introduced in the country.”

The president regretted that due to “sham democracy” corruption was promoted, and institutional collapse was witnessed during the last 11 years. “There was a erosion of democratic values,” he added.