ISLAMABAD -- A chorus of condemnation over proposed sweeping changes to Pakistan's Constitution gained momentum Friday with critics charging the package made military President Pervez Musharraf "lord and master of all he surveys".

The 28 proposed amendments released for debate this week would allow Musharraf, the armed forces chief who seized power three years ago, to sack the prime minister and cabinet and dissolve the Lower House of Parliament.

"Under the new dispensation the president will be the lord and master of all that he surveys," screamed an editorial in ***The Nation Daily***.

The package, released ahead of October general elections, "envisages an all-powerful president" with "absolutely no check on his powers", it warned.

Political commentator Najam Sethi, editor of ***The Daily Times***, branded the proposals a "nightmare".

"These proposals are just one man's dream. And his dream is a nightmare for all political and democratic forces," Sethi told AFP, rejecting the government line that they were aimed at stability and sustainability.

"They are neither geared to make a future government stable nor can they be sustained beyond General Musharraf himself," he countered.

"It has no longevity and the day Musharraf goes it will collapse and the Parliament will reassert itself," Reuters reported.

Pakistan has been without a Parliament since Musharraf sacked it in June 2001, almost two years after his bloodless coup against the elected government of prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

He declared himself president three months later and in may this year was handed an extra five years after holding a referendum plagued by allegations of multiple voting and manipulation.

Analysts concurred that the constitutional changes would turn Pakistan's traditionally parliamentary system of government into a presidential system by bolstering Musharraf's already vast powers.

The proposals were a "clear attempt by the military general to subordinate the legislature and executive, at both federal and provincial levels, to the person of the president," analyst Mohammad Niazi told newspaper. "Musharraf wants to ensure that no matter what the result of the October elections will be, he is able to get his way. It is a preemptive move."

***The News Daily***in its editoral warned the changes would "greatly change the configuration of the political system in the country, with power passing from the prime minister to the president, even though the fiction of a parliamentary system is maintained".

The changes were the "umpteenth attempt to incorporate a presidential structure camouflaged as a parliamentary system to ensure effective governance by an anointed president".

"Such a strong presidential office... will be a threat to democracy... with no real checks and balances," it said.

The government says it wants the proposals to be debated for a month before being finalized by the cabinet and the existing National Security Council.

Other changes mooted include reducing the voter age to 18 from 21, cutting Lower House membership from five years to four and increasing the number of seats in the House from 207 to 357.

A proposal to bar non-graduates from standing for election is already being challenged in the Supreme Court.

Musharraf has promised to return Pakistan to democracy in October this year, saying the constitution would be amended to ensure "genuine" democracy and good governance.

The president insisted in a television interview with the BBC at the weekend that the prime minister would be "all-powerful" but insisted he would have the final say.

"I am going to retain the authority to have an over-watch on him and the power to dismiss the cabinet or assembly," he said.