Pakistan edges toward Musharraf impeachment

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's ruling coalition took another step on Sunday toward impeaching President Pervez Musharraf, honing the charges to be launched against the former army strongman if he refuses to resign.

Musharraf is holding out against enormous pressure to quit from foes who swept February elections and relegated the stalwart US ally to the political sidelines.

They include Nawaz Sharif, whose government was ousted in Musharraf's 1999 coup and who is calling for the ex-general to be tried for treason, a charge that can be punished with the death penalty.

Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Sharif's party, said a committee of coalition officials gathered Sunday to review a list of impeachment charges against Musharraf. Iqbal said the committee would forward the charges to top party leaders for final approval.

He wouldn't discuss the charges but said they formalized those ``which the nation has been hearing since many days through the media'', principally gross misconduct and violations of the constitution.

The coalition has threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings in Parliament within days if Musharraf doesn't resign first. It insists it will secure the required two-thirds majority to oust him.

Presidential aides say Musharraf is refusing to leave office under pressure. However, some current and former supporters have suggested he might yield in return for guarantees he will not be prosecuted or forced into exile.

Sharif's party is the second largest in a coalition led by the Pakistan People's Party of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, which has taken a slightly milder tone toward Musharraf.

People's Party officials say that while they want Musharraf out, they will shun the ``politics of revenge'' that scars the bloody and rancorous 61-year history of the South Asia nation.

Information Minister Sherry Rehman, a leader of Bhutto's party, said Sunday that after Pakistan's four provincial assemblies passed resolutions calling on Musharraf to seek a vote of confidence in Parliament, his position had become ``completely untenable.''

It was unclear when exactly Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower and political successor, might give the final green light for impeachment.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday gave Musharraf a two-day deadline to head off the move by quitting.
Rehman, however, was less precise. The coalition will ``continue to amplify the pressure on Musharraf through the following week by initiating a historic impeachment process,'' she said.

Musharraf dominated Pakistan for years after the 1999 coup and insists he made the right choice in siding with the United States against the Taliban and al-Qaida. However, many Pakistanis blame rising violence in their country on the closeness of that alliance.

Musharraf's popularity sank to new lows in 2007 when he ousted dozens of senior judges and imposed emergency rule to safeguard a newly won second term as president, moves coalition officials say were illegal and could be used to justify impeachment.