ISLAMABAD–Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf fought back yesterday against politicians who asserted he would resign rather than face impeachment charges, saying through his chief political supporter that he would challenge the charges when they were brought to parliament.
Politicians across all parties, however, characterized the public insistence by Musharraf, a former military man, as a kind of last stand, a bravura performance that could not be maintained under the political reality that almost all of his support has evaporated.
If Musharraf did not step down voluntarily very soon, the man who succeeded him as army chief last year, Gen. Ishfaq Parvez Kayani, would quietly make it clear he had to leave, said two senior Pakistani figures who declined to be named.
The army, which remains Pakistan's most revered institution, did not want impeachment proceedings to begin, fearing it would tarnish the institution, several politicians said. Nonetheless, a statement issued by a presidential spokesperson said that reports Musharraf would step down were "baseless and malicious."
In an interview on the English-language TV channel Dawn, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the chair of Musharraf's Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, said the president would deal with the charges "in a democratic spirit and in accordance with the constitution."
Hussain, whose party holds 51 of parliament's 342 seats, added: "Let them bring the charges. So far, they haven't brought any charges."
But politicians up and down the political spectrum, including some from Musharraf's party, doubt Musharraf would appear in parliament to respond to the charges. It was clear, they said, he could not prevail in a vote.
Leaders of the two major parties in the coalition government announced last week they would seek Musharraf's impeachment on charges that include illegally suspending the constitution and imposing emergency rule last November and wrongly dismissing 60 judges under that decree.
The decision not to announce a date for the presentation of charges was apparently designed to leave the door open for continuing negotiations on how Musharraf should exit, and the terms of immunity from prosecution that he is seeking.
New York Times
