Re: Musharraf planning exit: UK paper
- From: rst0wxyz <rst0wxyz@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:39:32 -0800 (PST)
PPP, PML (N) at odds over Musharraf's future
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200802252240.htm
Islamabad (PTI): Opposition PPP on Monday appeared to be at odds with
partner PML-N on the political future of Pervez Musharraf with its
leader Asif Ali Zardari saying the coalition will be unable to impeach
the Pakistan President but Nawaz Sharif continued to gun for him.
As Musharraf faced renewed pressure from Sharif to step down and an
influential US senator almost setting deadlines, Zardari said "the
ground reality is that we do not have two-thirds majority in both
Houses of Parliament" that is required for a successful impeachment of
the President.
Zardari's comments in an interview to the Wall Street Journal were
among the most conciliatory to date from a senior leader of the
coalition regarding its intended approach to Musharraf after PPP and
PML-N decided to join hands to form the next government. Zardari while
indicating he would seek a working relationship with Musharraf said
"we have to establish democracy and for that we need unity and not
confrontation."
After meeting hardline Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed here,
Sharif told reporters that if Musharraf stayed on then judges sacked
by him during Emergency rule in November should be restored so that
they can decide the legality of Musharraf's re-election as President
in October last.
"Before Parliament impeaches him (Musharraf) we want this issue
revolved by the judiciary... it should not reach that stage," said
Sharif,who pressed with his demand that Musharraf step down saying he
was elected unconstitutionally. Sharif, who said the sooner Musharraf
quits it will be better for him, also met US Ambassador Anne Patterson
for the first time after the poll results.
Influential US Senator Joe Biden menawhile said Musharraf must make a
graceful retreat from power. Musharraf however rejected calls for his
resignation saying his position should not be determined by poll
results.
"The president has been elected for a period of five years by the
assemblies of Pakistan, which have been elected by the Pakistani
people and not by senators from the US," Musharraf's spokesman Maj Gen
Rashid Qureshi said.
"So I don't think he needs to respond to anything that is said by
these people in their capacity", Qureshi said, adding "Except for
Nawaz Sharif it is clear that no one else is talking about the
president leaving."
Sharif said "Musharraf should quit as soon as possible. It would be
better for him because the people have given their mandate."
"The parliamentary parties of the PPP, PML-N, ANP and independents
which comprise nearly two-thirds of the National Assembly will meet in
Islamabad on February 27 to demand the convening of parliament and
transfer of power immediately," he said.
In the newspaper interview, Zardari said "Our main objective is to
work for the smooth transition to democracy. "We want to unify the
country, which is facing some very serious challenges. We have to
establish democracy and for that we need unity and not confrontation,"
he said.
Biden, who is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
told an American televison channel. "I firmly believe if they do not
focus on old grudges - and there's plenty in Pakistan - and give him a
graceful way to move" then Musharraf will leave office.
On Feb 24, 9:29 pm, rst0wxyz <rst0w...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Musharraf planning exit: UK paper
http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/25/top5.htm
By M. Ziauddin
LONDON, Feb 24: Pervez Musharraf is considering stepping down as
president of Pakistan rather than waiting to be forced out by his
victorious opponents, a report in The Sunday Telegraph said quoting
his close aides.
Close friends of the president and his confidants told the paper that
the president believed he had run out of options and had started
discussing an exit strategy for himself. One of them thought "it is
now just a matter of days and not months because he would like to make
a graceful exit on a high".
The president is said to have formed his opinion after three of the
main parties who triumphed in last week's poll announced they would
form a coalition government, and also pledged to reinstate the
country's chief justice and 60 other judges sacked by him in November.
(According to reports from Islamabad, presidential spokesperson Maj
Gen (retd) Rashid Qureshi has denied that the president was
considering any such move.)
The paper quoted some presidential aides as saying that, Mr Musharraf
wanted to avoid a power struggle with the newly elected parliament, in
which his opponents will be close to the two-thirds majority needed to
impeach him and remove him from office.
"He may have made many mistakes, but he genuinely tried to build the
country and he doesn't want to destroy it just for the sake of his
personal office," said an official close to the president.
Mr Musharraf, who stepped down as head of the army late last year, had
called for a harmonious coalition after the defeat of his party -
which won just 38 out of 272 National Assembly seats in the election
and even publicly offered to work with the new prime minister - but
his political rivals have demanded he go.
Officials said he had considered resigning immediately after the
election results were known, but had been persuaded by party loyalists
that his sudden departure could precipitate a crisis.
In an article published last week in an influential US daily he
insisted that he would serve out his five-year presidential term.
Also, on Friday last US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice came out
strongly in his support and said the US would still like to work with
President Musharraf.
Behind the scenes, his staff attempted to broker an agreement with PPP
chief Asif Zardari, but despite pressure from the United States, which
has relied on Mr Musharraf's support for its war on terror, Mr Zardari
refused to strike a deal.
He declined despite also claiming to have been threatened by Mr
Musharraf's allies that the government would revive long-standing
corruption charges against him.
"I have seen these jails and this is not something new to me," said Mr
Zardari. "I fought all these fake cases instituted against me with
courage and never disappointed anyone by asking for a pardon.
"I'm ready to fight it out again, and will never disappoint anyone."
PPP officials said that any deal with Mr Musharraf would have dented
the party's public support and it was better to try to govern with the
help of the other main parties.
"It doesn't make any sense for us to sink with the dying man," said
Nisar Khuhro, a senior PPP leader, referring to Mr Musharraf.
Jamil Soomro, a PPP spokesman, said: "He has betrayed everyone since
the very outset and we have no guarantee that he would not betray us
once he stabilised his position."
If Mr Musharraf decides to dig his heels in, the opposition parties
plan to remove his constitutional powers to dissolve the assembly.
"I think his game is over but if he was able to survive for any
reason, he would be like a dead fish, sitting and rotting the
presidency," said Khwaja Asif, a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim
League-N.
.
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- Musharraf planning exit: UK paper
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