Pak constitution to be restored to its original form: PM

Pakistan's president-elect Asif Ali Zardari (R), widower of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, shakes hands with former premier Nawaz Sharif at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad yesterday. Zardari will be sworn in as president of Pakistan today, succeeding Pervez Musharraf who resigned under threat of impeachment.Marines turn town over to British, AfghansPhoto: AFP

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has reiterated his government's resolve to restore the 1973 Constitution in its original form, which would help guarantee independence of judiciary and freedom of the press.
He was talking to a US Congressional delegation, which had called on him on Sunday.
According to an official handout, the prime minister said that the democratic process had been completed with the election of Asif Ali Zardari as president with an overwhelming majority.
The delegation included Congressman Jim Cooper, Democrat, Member of the House Armed Services Committee; Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, Democrat, Member of the House Armed Services Committee; Congressman Thomas Petri, Republican, Member of the House Committee on Education and Labour; Congressman Jon Porter, Republican, Member of the House Ways and Means Committee; and Congressman Dave Reichert, Republican, Member of House Homeland Security Committee.
US Ambassador Anne W Patterson attended the meeting. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gilani attended a reception given by Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majeed in connection with the Defence of Pakistan Day.