Instability mounts in Pakistan amid decision to impeach Musharraf
Saturday, 9 August 2008
ISLAMABAD, Aug.8(Agencies): Tension in the capital of Pakistan was high Friday as uncertainty about the country's stability mounted in the wake of a decision by Pakistan's ruling coalition parties to impeach President Pervez Musharraf.
A day after leaders of the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N party said they would move to oust Musharraf from office, politicians across the country appeared to begin repositioning themselves as the crisis over the beleaguered country's leadership continued to unfold.
On Friday, leaders of Pakistan's Muslim League-N said four of its top members would return to their cabinet posts in the government after a three month hiatus that threatened to permanently fracture the ruling coalition elected in February.
Iqbal Jhagra, secretary-general of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, said party leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif decided to rejoin the government as part of a deal brokered recently with Pakistan People's Party co-chair Asif Ali Zardari.
The move appeared to mend-- at least temporarily--fissures within the coalition that erupted in May after Sharif withdrew his party members from key ministries in protest over Zardari's failure to deliver on a promise to restore Pakistan's broken judiciary.
With several of the cabinet positions now reinstated Jhagra said he expects impeachment proceedings against Musharraf to begin late next week. He expressed doubts that Musharraf had enough support from the country's military leadership to parry the coalition's impeachment thrust by dissolving the parliament and declaring a state of emergency.
"We are trying to move as quickly as possible but let us see how the opposing parties move," Jhagra said. "At the present moment it does not appear that the army will support him. They will definitely not make any mistake of opposing the will of the people of Pakistan."
There was little word from Musharraf's camp Friday as he continued a second day of meetings with the country's top military leaders. But several local media outlets reported that associates close to the president said Musharraf vowed this week to fight the move to dismantle his nine year regime.
Zardari, the widower of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and Sharif, a former prime minister who was ousted by Musharraf in 1999, announced their decision to move for impeachment during a joint press conference Thursday. The rare parliamentary measure requires first a majority vote of half of parliament before charges against Musharraf can be considered, a vote many here believe is assured to happen. Less certain is whether the coalition has the 295 votes needed for the combined two-thirds majority required in both the National Assembly and the Senate to unseat Musharraf.
The parties opposed to Musharraf currently have a total of 274 members in the National Assembly and the Senate. With some 27 independent parliament members and the possibility of defections from Musharraf's Pakistan Muslim League-Q faction the vote is bound to be close.
"It is a very difficult time, but at the same time it will be a very historical time if the remainder of the military dictatorship is removed," Jhagra said.
Pakistan's four provincial assemblies are expected to take up a vote of no confidence against Musharraf starting next week, and Musharraf's impeachment will be high on the agenda when parliament convenes its session in Islamabad on Monday.
Amnother report adds, Eyes were on Pakistan's generals Friday for any gesture of support for President Pervez Musharraf a day after a four-month-old civilian coalition declared plans to impeach the former army chief.
The ex-commando, who seized power in a coup nine years ago, has yet to make any public response after being given the option of facing a confidence vote in parliament or being impeached.
The prospects of the nuclear-armed Muslim country that is also a hiding place for al Qaeda leaders lurching into a fresh bout of instability will be viewed with trepidation by the United States and other Western nations, and regional neighbors.
A two-day meeting of the army's top brass at headquarters in Rawalpindi, the city next door to Islamabad, ended on Friday with a statement mainly about promotions which made no mention of the political crisis.
The focus is now on the man to whom Musharraf passed command of the army when he retired from the military last November.
"The fate of Musharraf now lies in the hands of Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani," said analyst Lisa Curtis in a commentary for the Washington-based Heritage Foundation.
Although Kayani had been Musharraf's intelligence chief, civilian politicians have been encouraged by his efforts to withdraw the army from political affairs.
Musharraf has said in the past he would resign rather than be dragged through an impeachment process by a parliament filled with enemies.
A day after leaders of the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N party said they would move to oust Musharraf from office, politicians across the country appeared to begin repositioning themselves as the crisis over the beleaguered country's leadership continued to unfold.
On Friday, leaders of Pakistan's Muslim League-N said four of its top members would return to their cabinet posts in the government after a three month hiatus that threatened to permanently fracture the ruling coalition elected in February.
Iqbal Jhagra, secretary-general of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, said party leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif decided to rejoin the government as part of a deal brokered recently with Pakistan People's Party co-chair Asif Ali Zardari.
The move appeared to mend-- at least temporarily--fissures within the coalition that erupted in May after Sharif withdrew his party members from key ministries in protest over Zardari's failure to deliver on a promise to restore Pakistan's broken judiciary.
With several of the cabinet positions now reinstated Jhagra said he expects impeachment proceedings against Musharraf to begin late next week. He expressed doubts that Musharraf had enough support from the country's military leadership to parry the coalition's impeachment thrust by dissolving the parliament and declaring a state of emergency.
"We are trying to move as quickly as possible but let us see how the opposing parties move," Jhagra said. "At the present moment it does not appear that the army will support him. They will definitely not make any mistake of opposing the will of the people of Pakistan."
There was little word from Musharraf's camp Friday as he continued a second day of meetings with the country's top military leaders. But several local media outlets reported that associates close to the president said Musharraf vowed this week to fight the move to dismantle his nine year regime.
Zardari, the widower of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and Sharif, a former prime minister who was ousted by Musharraf in 1999, announced their decision to move for impeachment during a joint press conference Thursday. The rare parliamentary measure requires first a majority vote of half of parliament before charges against Musharraf can be considered, a vote many here believe is assured to happen. Less certain is whether the coalition has the 295 votes needed for the combined two-thirds majority required in both the National Assembly and the Senate to unseat Musharraf.
The parties opposed to Musharraf currently have a total of 274 members in the National Assembly and the Senate. With some 27 independent parliament members and the possibility of defections from Musharraf's Pakistan Muslim League-Q faction the vote is bound to be close.
"It is a very difficult time, but at the same time it will be a very historical time if the remainder of the military dictatorship is removed," Jhagra said.
Pakistan's four provincial assemblies are expected to take up a vote of no confidence against Musharraf starting next week, and Musharraf's impeachment will be high on the agenda when parliament convenes its session in Islamabad on Monday.
Amnother report adds, Eyes were on Pakistan's generals Friday for any gesture of support for President Pervez Musharraf a day after a four-month-old civilian coalition declared plans to impeach the former army chief.
The ex-commando, who seized power in a coup nine years ago, has yet to make any public response after being given the option of facing a confidence vote in parliament or being impeached.
The prospects of the nuclear-armed Muslim country that is also a hiding place for al Qaeda leaders lurching into a fresh bout of instability will be viewed with trepidation by the United States and other Western nations, and regional neighbors.
A two-day meeting of the army's top brass at headquarters in Rawalpindi, the city next door to Islamabad, ended on Friday with a statement mainly about promotions which made no mention of the political crisis.
The focus is now on the man to whom Musharraf passed command of the army when he retired from the military last November.
"The fate of Musharraf now lies in the hands of Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani," said analyst Lisa Curtis in a commentary for the Washington-based Heritage Foundation.
Although Kayani had been Musharraf's intelligence chief, civilian politicians have been encouraged by his efforts to withdraw the army from political affairs.
Musharraf has said in the past he would resign rather than be dragged through an impeachment process by a parliament filled with enemies.