ISLAMABAD, Jan 13: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday that the Pakistan People’s Party would take the credit of repealing the 17th Amendment which had bestowed ‘politically undesirable’ powers on the president.

Presiding over a meeting of parliamentarians of his party, he said the PPP would negotiate with the parties which had presented separate bills for constitutional amendment or were planning to do so. According to sources, the prime minister said: “We want to present a bill which is acceptable to all.”

So far, amendment bills have been submitted by the PPP, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Salim Saifullah and Wasim Sajjad of Pakistan Muslim League-Q. The PML-N has also announced that it will move a bill during the current session of the National Assembly.

Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan told the National Assembly that the PPP had initiated the process of repealing the 17th Amendment six months ago when Law Minister Farooq H. Naek had prepared a draft that was circulated among all parties.

He said it would be impossible for any of the bills to be passed by the National Assembly without a consensus among all parties on a draft.

Prime Minister Gilani said the government was committed to upholding supremacy of parliament and strengthening all democratic institutions.

“The government is taking every step to strengthen parliament, including the functioning of its committees, so that all issues of national importance are resolved in accordance with democratic norms through debate in parliament,” he said.

Taking notice of the absence of PPP members and ministers from the house, he called upon ministers, advisers and parliamentary secretaries to attend the question hour.