|
Islamabad: Pressure mounted on President Pervez Musharraf to resign or face impeachment but aides rejected media speculation he was about to step down.
Members of the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday lent their voices to the growing opposition clamour for Musharraf to face a vote of confidence or face impeachment.
The Daily Times newspaper cited an unidentified politician from a pro-Musharraf party as saying the president was expected to announce his decision to quit on Independence Day today. But Musharraf's spokesman promptly brushed aside the report.
"Newspapers in Pakistan, I'm afraid, dream up things," said retired Major General Rashid Qureshi.
With a showdown looming, much is being read into how the army, which has retained a hold on power for more than half the 61 years since the country's creation, will react, but coalition leaders said on Tuesday the army and its main security agency would not intervene to back their former general.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the army chief chosen by Musharraf to take over when he gave up command last year was highly professional and was all for a return to democracy.
Leaders of the ruling coalition are hoping the president, isolated since his allies were routed in the February elections, resigns without necessitating impeachment proceedings. But they are also drawing up accusations against him which they say should be ready next week.
Analysts say it could take weeks before a vote is held in parliament.
Banking on a 'tidal wave'
A prominent Musharraf ally said the president should at least respond to the charges before he considers stepping down.
"If he resigns now, it will be taken that he ran away from a charge sheet," said Tariq Azim Khan, a deputy minister in the previous government.
The government does not have the two-thirds majority needed to impeach Musharraf but says it is confident it will win the vote with what it calls a "tidal wave" of opposition to him. Several old allies have turned against the president.
Musharraf has anchored backing for the US-led campaign against Islamist militancy since 2001.
Opposition keeps away
A third provincial assembly yesterday unanimously passed a resolution bringing pressure on President Pervez Musharraf to quit office.
The opposition boycotted the vote in Sindh province, allowing the resolution to be passed with the support of 93 lawmakers.
The resolution accuses Musharraf of violating the constitution and gross misconduct and demands that he seek votes of confidence from parliament and provincial legislatures or tender his resignation, failing which he would face impeachment proceedings. The Balochistan Assembly is now the lone provincial legislature not to have censured Musharraf.
The Sindh resolution was approved amid shouts of "Go, Musharraf, Go!" and loud thumping of desks.
"This resolution is against the authoritarian regime of Musharraf. If he cares a little bit about his honour and dignity he must resign forthwith," said provincial Information Minister Shazia Mari.
Jam Madad Ali of the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q said the resolution was "unconstitutional and illegal"
|
