2-day ultimatum for Musharraf
Monday, 18 August 2008
ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (Agencies): Pakistan's ruling coalition tightened the screw on President Pervez Musharraf Sunday, saying that it had readied impeachment charges against him and was giving him two days to stand down.
Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar told AFP, "The charge sheet will be presented in parliament by Tuesday". Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said a day earlier that Musharraf had to decide on quitting "by today or tomorrow."
The coalition finalised the charges Sunday after intense deliberations and would present them Monday to the alliance's leaders, Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said.
"It is a historic document," Rehman told reporters. She said it would be submitted to parliament as part of an impeachment resolution "this week" but did not elaborate.
A spokesman for Musharraf - who seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999 and went on to become a linchpin in the US-led "war on terror" - has repeatedly denied that the president was going to resign.
But Attorney General Malik Qayyum, a close confidant of Musharraf, said the president would wait until the impeachment motion was filed before choosing a course of action.
"Whether he quits or counters the impeachment move will be decided after he sees the charges," Qayyum told the news agency, adding that challenging impeachment in the Supreme Court remained an option.
With Pakistan's powerful army taking a neutral stance towards its former chief, the court is the only institution Musharraf can still count on, as he purged it of opponents during a state of emergency last November.
Musharraf's other courses of action - either dissolving the national assembly or imposing emergency rule again - are fraught with risk.
Musharraf's allies and coalition officials have said separately that his aides are in talks with the government in a bid to secure him an indemnity from prosecution if he does throw in the towel.
Saudi Arabia and, reportedly, the United States and Britain, have sent envoys in a bid to resolve the crisis in the nuclear-armed nation, which is also suffering from a severe economic crunch.
A coalition source said fresh discussions were underway Sunday.
Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar told AFP, "The charge sheet will be presented in parliament by Tuesday". Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said a day earlier that Musharraf had to decide on quitting "by today or tomorrow."
The coalition finalised the charges Sunday after intense deliberations and would present them Monday to the alliance's leaders, Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said.
"It is a historic document," Rehman told reporters. She said it would be submitted to parliament as part of an impeachment resolution "this week" but did not elaborate.
A spokesman for Musharraf - who seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999 and went on to become a linchpin in the US-led "war on terror" - has repeatedly denied that the president was going to resign.
But Attorney General Malik Qayyum, a close confidant of Musharraf, said the president would wait until the impeachment motion was filed before choosing a course of action.
"Whether he quits or counters the impeachment move will be decided after he sees the charges," Qayyum told the news agency, adding that challenging impeachment in the Supreme Court remained an option.
With Pakistan's powerful army taking a neutral stance towards its former chief, the court is the only institution Musharraf can still count on, as he purged it of opponents during a state of emergency last November.
Musharraf's other courses of action - either dissolving the national assembly or imposing emergency rule again - are fraught with risk.
Musharraf's allies and coalition officials have said separately that his aides are in talks with the government in a bid to secure him an indemnity from prosecution if he does throw in the towel.
Saudi Arabia and, reportedly, the United States and Britain, have sent envoys in a bid to resolve the crisis in the nuclear-armed nation, which is also suffering from a severe economic crunch.
A coalition source said fresh discussions were underway Sunday.