Musharraf Resists Pressure To Quit

(AP)  Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf vowed Saturday to resist pressure for him to resign but suggested he might quit if Parliament reduces him to a toothless figurehead.

Musharraf, a stalwart U.S. ally, has been under pressure since his allies lost parliamentary elections in February. Media reports this week suggested he was ready to resign and go into exile.

The former army strongman said Saturday that he would not quit under pressure. He appealed for political unity to counter economic problems and terrorism.

But he indicated that he would go if the new government succeeds in its plan to reduce his powers to the point where he feels like a "useless vegetable."

"Parliament is supreme. Whatever the Parliament decides I will accept it," Musharraf told reporters from Pakistani news channels, which broadcast his remarks. "If I see that I don't have any role to play, then it is better to play golf."

Western officials worry that Pakistan's government is preoccupied with Musharraf's future rather than mounting economic woes and Islamic extremists operating along its border with Afghanistan.

The two-month-old ruling coalition, led by two men who were jailed under the ex-army chief, is divided over how to deal with Musharraf.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose government was ousted in Musharraf's 1999 coup, leads the second-largest party in the coalition.

Sharif is calling loudly for Musharraf's impeachment and is pressing hard for the restoration of judges the president ousted last year to halt legal challenges to his continued rule.

Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and leader of the main ruling party, recently described Musharraf as a "relic of the past" who should resign.

But Zardari wants to restore the judges as part of a cumbersome raft of constitutional amendments that would also remove Musharraf's power to dissolve Parliament and appoint military chiefs.

Some analysts doubt whether the coalition can agree on the package or muster the two-thirds majority required to bring it through Parliament any time soon.

Musharraf, who has kept a low public profile in recent weeks, said he was speaking out because the rumors about his future were harming the country.

The government should focus on addressing economic woes, including trade and budget deficits as well as double-digit inflation fueled by rising world oil and food prices, he said.

"To take the country out of this crisis, I think reconciliation is the key. Confrontation would take the country further down," he said. "I have no doubt the government and prime minister want to confront all these issues. My support will be with them."

[ammianus]

The Sorrows of Young Dumus, Art. XVIII:
Thousands died when both the commercial and the administrative capitals of the Hegemon were attacked (A.J. 6715, 23 Lo:os) and now Dumas could play the conquering hero. Ibn Shaitan had hid in the Ghaznavid territories, a guest of the government of Omar who offended the decency of mankind by his oppressions. Thus the subjugation of that country could be effected with some semblance of justice. However, sacrificing his pride to the vain hope of survival, Omar offered to deliver the person of ibn Shaitan. As this would set in train the ruin of Dumus, he spurned the offer and erased all public record of it. Dumus launched an aerial assault that quickly overwhelmed Omar with an indiscriminate slaughter. Of necessity, Dumus pretended to hunt for ibn Shaitan. But as the ring of encirclement was about to close, Vulturinus entrusted the mouth of the trap to known adherents of Omar who escorted ibn Shaitan safely to the mountains of Kafiristan. Success seemed complete: While seeming to pursue him, Dumus had avoided the capture of ibn Shaitan and his escape could be plausibly explained; Hegemon troops garrisoned the country and a route of attack was opened on Persia to the west. However, the Ghaznavids soon compared the effete brutality of the Hegemon to the rough virtues of their countrymen. The puppet government in Kabul reigned there and nowhere else. The fanatic followers of Omar nursed their wounds and recruited their strength.

[alphaa10-2009]

TruUSA said, "TO BAD OBAMA COULDN''T DROP HIS MIDDLE NAME AS EASILY AS HE COULD AN AMERICAN FLAG PIN!!"
---
You need to bring yourself up to speed on the latest mythology about Obama. Tom DeLay says he is a "Marxist", and as a loyal McBushbot, this is your new issue of myth about Obama.

Obama and most of the GOP smears are detailed at snopes.com-- a website unaffiliated with either party.
Snopes also has items on McCain, as well.

Interestingly, Bush launched his war on the idea even Muslims deserve freedom, religious and otherwise. That means you should be the last person to insist a native-born American citizen must follow your own interpretation of Sharia law.

In Obama''s case, his father was not a practicig Muslim, and during his years in Indonesia Obama attended both public school run by the government of Indonesia and a parochial school run by the Roman Catholic Church.

Your statements originate in an Insight Magazine story (subsidiary of Washington Times, owned by Sun Myung Moon-- remember?) and uncritically carried by the Faux News Network.

[ubrew12]

Musharraf Resists Pressure To Quit"
funny thing about dictators...

[fireceos]

LOL...Not too long ago, I was the only one I knew of who said Osama Bin Laden was in Pakistan. Ever since we''ve had him ''roped'' in a 40-square mile plot ''on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan'' and never found the guy roaming along the mountains, but found Saddam Hussein in a spider hole, I knew something was amiss.

[fireceos]

Osama Bin Laden is in Pakistan, being protected by Musharraf''s organization.

[rushlimpdrug]

He should stay
since everyone already knows his name.

Cheers!

[cyberus-2009]

Even if he does quit he''ll be back within a year at the head of another military takeover.

[randynason]

Fascists of a feather, flock together. War Crime Trials will be the new reality show for the upcoming season. Vote to have the losers lobotomized on live television.

[deacon20081]

I think Dubya and friends will haul tail to Dubai.

[jboxton]

Wow...suprising. A hard headed stubborn Muslim. We should bomb this country.