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Allies are advising Musharraf to accept a "dignified" exit by resigning before being impeached. (Reuters) |
ISLAMABAD — Allies of embattled President Pervez Musharraf On Sunday, August, threw their weight behind mounting calls for him to quietly step down before being impeached by the ruling coalition.
"I have advised the president to choose a dignified exit and resign to save the country from further polarization," Sardar Bahadur Khan Sihar, an MP from Musharraf's main ally the Pakistan Muslim League, Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q), told Reuters.
Asif Zardari, leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and former premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) decided on Thursday, August 7, to begin impeaching Musharraf.
"If he did not quit, than it's obvious I will vote in favor of his impeachment," said Khan.
A government committee met Sunday to finalize a charge sheet against Musharraf before the lower house starts impeachment proceedings on Monday.
"A comprehensive charge sheet is being prepared," Law Minister Farooq Naek told reporters.
"The charge sheet will be solid and Musharraf will not be able to fight it," said the minister, a member of the committee drafting the charges.
"It is better for him to resign before impeachment."
Under the constitution, a two-thirds combined majority in the upper and lower houses of parliament is required for impeaching a sitting president.
No president has ever been impeached in the history of the Asian Muslim heavyweight.
Musharraf, a former commando, has ruled nuclear-armed Pakistan for eight years with the backing of the United States.
His popularity hit all time low after he imposed a state of emergency in November 2007 to prevent any challenges to his controversial re-election as president-in-uniform.
Cracks
MP Khan said more than 25 lawmakers from the pro-Musharraf PML-Q wanted him to resign.
The PML-Q said it could not support Musharraf if he tried to use constitutional powers to sack the government and dismiss parliament.
The ruling coalition is short the two-thirds majority required to pass an impeachment motion, but coalition officials say several allies of the beleaguered president had assured their support.
"Cracks are visible in the PML-Q," Information Minister Sherry Rehman said.
"Musharraf is losing support every day," she told reporters.
Musharraf's close ally, Mushahid Hussain, who is also secretary general of the PML-Q, said the president could face the charges or resign.
But, he said, "the president has been an army commando" and he will "dig in and fight."
Musharraf has reportedly been advised by the powerful military establishment to quit honorably in the larger interest of the nation instead of facing an impeachment motion and subsequent humiliation.
Washington has steered clear of the impeachment proceedings, saying it was an "internal" matter for Pakistan.
The US and its allies fear a prolonged political and constitutional crisis will lead to instability in Pakistan, a key Washington ally in its so-called war on terror.
A close ally of Musharraf said he was likely to resign before the impeachment motion was moved.
"I think there would be a settlement…No impeachment in view of resignation," the ally told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
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