Pakistan’s Musharraf refuses to quit as impeachment looms
Published 9:34 pm Sunday, August 17, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s ruling coalition finalized impeachment charges against President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday and a government minister said they could be filed as early as this week if he does not resign first.
Musharraf is holding out against intense pressure to quit from political foes who swept February elections and relegated the stalwart U.S. ally to the sidelines.
With Musharraf’s utility fading, the West appears less concerned with his ultimate fate than with how the crisis is affecting the new civilian government’s halting efforts to fight terrorism and growing economic woes.
A committee of Pakistan’s ruling coalition on Sunday finalized a list of impeachment charges against Musharraf after five days of talks, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said. The coalition is confident it will easily secure the required two-thirds majority in a joint session of the upper and lower houses of parliament to oust Musharraf.
The coalition officials released no details of the charges, but a senior coalition leader, Sen. Raza Rabbani, said the charges included “a plethora of actions” taken by Musharraf in “gross violation” of the constitution.
The president has acknowledged that his imposition of temporary emergency rule last year was unconstitutional. He used the time to fire dozens of senior judges and ward off legal challenges to him continuing as president. However, he insists that he defeated a conspiracy to derail Pakistan’s return to democracy and acted exclusively in the national interest.
