TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Musharraf Ready To Exit, Sources Say

ADVERTISEMENT

The New York Times

Published: August 15, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Faced with desertions by his political supporters and the neutrality of the Pakistani military, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, an important ally of the United States, is expected to resign in the next few days rather than face impeachment charges, Pakistani politicians and Western diplomats said Thursday.

His departure from office likely would unleash new instability in the country as the two main parties in the civilian government jockeyed for the division of power.

The details of how Musharraf would exit, and whether he would be able to stay in Pakistan - apparently his strong preference - or would seek residency abroad were now under discussion, the politicians said.

Musharraf is expected to resign before the governing coalition would present charges for impeachment to the Parliament early next week, said Nisar Ali Khan, a senior official in the Pakistani Muslim League-N, the minority partner in the coalition government.

Similarly, Sheikh Mansoor Ahmed, a senior official of the Pakistan Peoples Party, the major party in the coalition, said Thursday that the president would probably leave in the "next 72 hours."

Inexorable pressure has built on Musharraf, a member of the military by profession and often impetuous by nature, to take a way out from the current crisis that would save him from embarrassing disclosures during impeachment procedures and that would protect the nation from a prolonged political agony.

The United States and Britain sought last year to put a democratic face on the unpopular Musharraf - who was then also chief of the army - by engineering the return of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as his partner in a putative power-sharing arrangement.

Now, the two countries are virtual bystanders as Musharraf's rule seems to be coming to an end.

Bhutto was assassinated in December, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, now the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, emerged as a major force urging Musharraf's ouster last week.

The two major political parties in the coalition said last week that they would seek to remove Musharraf, and that the grounds for impeachment included mismanagement of the economy, his imposition of emergency rule in November and the firing of nearly 60 judges.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT