Parliament's lower house has passed a landmark constitutional amendment giving US-backed President Pervez Musharraf extraordinary powers in return for a promise that he will quit his army post by the end of next year.
Supporters hailed the legislation passed on Monday as a return to democracy, while opponents staged a walkout and decried the deal as a cosmetic change to what they say is essentially military rule.
The vote came five days after a surprise deal between Musharraf and a hardline Islamic political bloc, the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, or MMA, which has been highly critical of the US led war in neighboring Afghanistan, and voiced support for that country's ousted Taliban regime.
It also came on the heels of two separate assassination attempts against the 60-year-old leader, the last coming on Christmas Day as the president's motorcade made its way through a crowded street in Rawalpindi.
Three suicide bombers detonated two explosives-packed pickup trucks, killing 15 people and getting close enough to crack the windshield on Musharraf's limousine. The general was unhurt.
Monday's decision will allow Musharraf to serve out his term as president, which ends in 2007, and formalize special powers he had given himself allowing him to sack the prime minister and disband parliament by decree.
In return, Musharraf agreed to step down as army chief, the main source of his power, by Dec. 31 next year.
A large bloc of opposition lawmakers walked out of Mon-day's session, allowing the legislation -- the 17th amendment made to Pakistan's 1973 constitution -- to pass by a vote of 248-0.
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