Zardari, however, refused to accept their advice saying he wanted the restoration of the 1973 constitution in its original form and would deliver on his promises made to Sharif the other allies of the ruling coalition.

The president also pointed out that in both his addresses to parliament, he had made it clear that it should on his powers, He would, therefore, agree to whatever the parliamentary committee recommended.

The repeal of the 17th amendment was one of the two major reasons the PML-N had walked out of the ruling coalition after it finished as the second largest party behind the PPP in the February 2008 general elections.

The other was the restoration of the 80-odd Supreme Court and high court judges Musharraf had sacked when they refused to take fresh oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order he had promulgated along with the emergency Nov 3, 2007.

The judges were finally restored after Sharif led a bruising lawyer's 'long march' to Islamabad in March. Zardari held out till the very last minute and buckled only after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Pakistani Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani read him the riot act.