Time Running Out For Musharraf

Pakistani President Warned He Must Quit In Two Days Or Face Impeachment

(AP)  A top ruling party official on Saturday gave Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf a two-day deadline to quit or face impeachment proceedings.

Musharraf's allies insisted he was not stepping down and was prepared to fight impeachment charges. But pressure on the president mounted further after the ruling party drew up a draft of charges to support a potential impeachment.

"Musharraf is running out of time," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters. "If he fails to decide to quit within the next two days, the impeachment process will take its course."

Qureshi is a member of the Pakistan People's Party, the dominant group in the ruling coalition which announced its intentions last week to impeach Musharraf.

The building momentum to throw the president out of office has injected even more uncertainty into an already volatile situation in Pakistan, a country whose stability the U.S. considers critical to success in the war on terror.

Musharraf dominated Pakistan for years after seizing power in a 1999 military coup, making the country a key strategic ally of the U.S. by supporting its fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda. But his popularity at home has been dwindling.

Many Pakistanis blame rising violence in their country on his alliance with the United States. Musharraf's popularity sunk to new lows in 2007 when he ousted judges and imposed emergency rule. Then his rivals came to power after February parliamentary elections, largely sidelining him.

The United States has said publicly the impeachment debate is an internal matter and Pakistan's army, which Musharraf formerly headed, has also remained neutral.

There is no precedent for impeaching a president in Pakistan's turbulent 61-year history.

Under the constitution, a president can be impeached for violating the constitution or "gross misconduct." Coalition officials have said Musharraf's removal of judges and imposition of emergency rule last year could be cause for impeachment.

Coalition officials said Saturday they have completed a draft of the impeachment charges but it still needs approval from the party leaders.

On Friday, allies and rivals of the president confirmed back-channel talks are under way to avoid an impeachment process that could further destabilize Pakistan.

Musharraf's supporters want protections for him if he steps down, while suggesting they could use the courts to challenge an impeachment.

Tariq Azim, a senior member of the main pro-Musharraf party, insisted Saturday the president won't quit.

"President Musharraf is confident about defending himself in the parliament and defeating the charge sheet easily because whatever he did, he did in the interest of the country and for the nation," Azim said.

On Friday, Mushahid Hussain, another Musharraf ally, said the president may turn to the courts to forestall an impeachment.

But Raza Rabbani, a member of the Pakistan People's Party, warned Musharraf this matter will not be decided in the courts.

"The venue cannot be changed," Rabbani said. "This should be clear to everyone as impeachment is a constitutional affair, and that could only be done through the parliament."

Whether Musharraf decides to quit could depend on what his rivals are willing to offer - particularly whether they will give him immunity from prosecution and let him stay in the country.

But the ruling coalition appears divided on those questions.

Sadiqul Farooq, a spokesman for the party of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - whom Musharraf ousted in the 1999 coup - insisted immunity was out of the question.

Sharif's party is the second-largest in the coalition, and it has said Musharraf should be tried for treason, which carries a maximum punishment of death.

The PPP has taken a softer tone.

Information Minister Sherry Rehman said Saturday that the party "never indulges in the politics of revenge as it wants a stable Pakistan and a sustainable democracy in the country."

If Musharraf quits, whether he could safely stay in Pakistan is an open question. He is despised by Islamist militants and has already been the target of multiple assassination attempts.

Azim, however, said no matter what, Musharraf wants to stay in Pakistan.

[jgunther7]

prudentvoter I agree: The US can only prop up these Surrogates for so long, then the people in that country will eventually throw them out. The foreign policy of George Bush is a crime against humanity and his economic policy is a complete failure. We must impeach him.

[jgunther7]

The US can only prop up these Surrogates for so long, then the people in that country will eventually throw them out. The foreign policy of George Bush is a crime against humanity and his economic policy is a complete failure. We must impeach this imbecile.

[toldyouso12]

Take notes Congress. Maybe the wheels turning in Pakistan can inspire our own group of Derelict government to move towards impeachment also.

[whitemale08]

whitemale08 you really believe the brits are running all of this?????


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by kenammons at 01:22 PM : Aug 17, 2008--

Absolutely, I''ve studied the British more then anyone else and they have allways been the enemy of the United States.

They only pretend to be our ally because since WWI they''ve had to share this Global Financial Empire with us because of our military.

But the British culture never likes to share and they are using our own stupidity and naivete to sucker us into this "globisation" plan where they rule the 4 corners of the earth EU, NAU, AU, and the EAU by "debt" and fiat-currency.

This has been their plan all along, we just are too dumb to believe otherwise.

[ubrew12]

"Pakistani President Warned He Must Quit In Two Days Or Face Impeachment"

What? We have to go to Pakistan to see democracy at work nowadays?

[kenammons]

whitemale08 you really believe the brits are running all of this?????

[kenammons]

lol will the pakistani army help the idot who knows. we may very well under little george the terrible have supplied advanced weapons like the f-16 to a country that will come under the control of islamic nuts that hate us. hopefully india will crush them if people more evil than the current swine are put in charge of pakistan

[thegoodtexan]

Goodbye Musharraf, Pakistan can run their own country now. Wait till the new leaders find out that all that US foreign aid for military weapons was not free and they are obligated to pay it back over the next fifty years. Pakistan will forever be indebted and under the control of the US. Somehow I don%u2019t think the people of Pakistan are going to wear this.

[antoniof123]

Watch the military step in and remove everyone again except for Musharraf.

[jackp32]

Could an atomic bomb explosion in that area be close at hand?

[prudentvoter]

The US can only prop up these Surrogates for so long, then the people in that country will eventually throw them out. The foreign policy of George Bush is a crime against humanity and his economic policy is a complete failure. We must impeach this imbecile.

[gurusavant]

India is obviously threatening Pakistan. With nuclear weapons, none the less. I would be more worried about Indias nuclear arsenal, not Irans...But that''s just me. Overpopulated, religiously out of control masses, deadly and spreading diseases, no economy, except for Bollywood, and a very tiny fraction of society that wants to maintain their lush lifestyle, by whatever it takes, even in view of horribly destitute masses?? Sounds pretty bad there.

[brianbwb-2009]

"... on the sale of 36 F-16 aircraft to Pakistan, Assistant Secretary of State John Hillen endured tongue-lashings from several members of the House International Relations Committee (HIRC), who objected to the manner in which his bureau has managed the $5.1 billion arms package. Of particular concern was the administration%u2019s unilateral decision to waive the customary 20-day pre-notification for major arms sales, which many members viewed as a deliberate attempt to circumvent the committee%u2019s authority..."

Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL) set the stage by calling the administration%u2019s decision to waive the pre-notification a %u201Cdeliberate and wholly inappropriate maneuver to diminish Congress%u2019 lawful oversight of arms sales.%u201D He vowed to %u201Ctake all appropriate actions to prevent the reoccurrence of the flouting of the Arms Export Control Act.%u201D Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the committee, was equally resolute. %u201C[T]his outrage will not stand,%u201D he declared during his opening statement, %u201COur oversight of arms sales will not be compromised.%u201D

The US sells the weapons to Pakistan, who resell to Sri Lanka and others for big $, they were simply told to stop backing Pervez, because Pervie won''t let the US military go on a killing spree in Pakistan, for the sake of neocon PR.

[gurusavant]

removing judges and imposition of an emergency rule as reasons for impeachment? sounds a little far fetched to me... especially in that region. maybe he removed the ''right'' judges??

[cbsblogger]

For the USA this issue is potentially far more dangerous than Iran. Pakistan has nukes and they have ties to Al-Quaida and they have sold the technology to our enemies. Yet nothing is being mentioned by the administration. This has always been the elephant on the room that should be our first concern.

[whitemale08]

No, the British took care of that by reporting that Pakistan''s Army Chief abandoned Mushariff which leaves him no where to go but out.

[summarex]

Close but no cigar!
The conflict the west really wants is a supreme bloodbath between India and China. So far both countries have been astute enough to fall into that trap. But things are bound to get more difficult.

[whitemale08]

Musharrif''s usefullness is up, the British wants to implement the next phase of their plan for global dominance which is to create crisis between Afganistan, Pakistan and India.

First between Afganistan and Pakistan so they can have the excuse to occupy it by American forces to protect oil pipeline projects.

Just look at the oil pipeline charts in Bzerzinski''s book.