April 20, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1429

LAHORE, April 19: A leader of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) says 17th Amendment to the Constitution will also be reviewed in the proposed constitutional package to be tabled in the National Assembly soon.

Deputy Information Secretary Munir Ahmad Khan said the package was being prepared in the light of the Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed by the PPP and the PML-N, coalition partners both in the federal and Punjab government.

Talking to Dawn here on Saturday, Mr Khan said certain reforms in the judicial set-up asides from curtailing powers of the presidency would also be the part of the package.

He said the PPP, the major constituent of the ARD, was working with the presidency patiently and not willingly.

He said the alliance between the PPP and the PML-N would go a long way as leaderships of both the parties believed that it was the only way to counter conspiracies against strengthening democracy and steering the country out of crisis.

Asked how far the alliance would last while Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated who had signed the CoD with Nawaz Sharif, Mr Khan claimed it was Asif Zardari who had played the main role in bringing the PPP chairperson and the PML-N leader closer by convincing her to visit Sharif in Jeddah some four years ago.