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Aug 7, 2008 3:30 am US/PacificPakistan Ruling Party Moves To Impeach Musharraf
CBS News Interactive: About Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CBS) � Pakistan's ruling coalition said Thursday it would seek the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf, alleging the U.S.-backed former general had "eroded the trust of the nation" and increasing pressure on him to resign.
Despite
his unpopularity in Pakistan, Musharraf has so far resisted calls to
step down and insisted he will serve out his current five-year term
after he was elected in a contentious parliamentary vote in October.
Impeaching a president requires a two-thirds majority support of
lawmakers in a joint session of both houses of Parliament.
Musharraf
dominated Pakistan for eight years and became a close U.S. ally after
the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but ceded control of the powerful army
last year and has been largely sidelined since the coalition parties
trounced his allies in February parliamentary elections.
Ruling
party chief Asif Ali Zardari declared the decision Thursday was "good
news for democracy" in Pakistan. Announcing a joint statement alongside
his coalition partners after two days of talks, he said it was
"imperative" for them to move for Musharraf's impeachment.
Policies
pursued by Musharraf during his eight years in power "have brought
Pakistan to a critical economic impasse," said Zardari, the widowed
husband of former premier Benazir Bhutto who took charge of her party
following her assassination in December.
"His policies have weakened the federation and eroded the trust of the nation in national institutions,
" Zardari added.
Zardari
claimed Musharraf had given a "clear commitment" to resign if his party
lost in the February elections and had failed to honor a pledge made by
his attorney to the Supreme Court to seek a vote of confidence from the
new Parliament.
Zardari also claimed Musharraf had "conspired" with the opposition party against Pakistan's democratic transition.
"The
coalition further decided that it will immediately initiate impeachment
proceedings. The coalition leadership will present a charge sheet
against Gen. Musharraf," Zardari told a news conference, alongside
leaders of the other coalition parties.
Nawaz Sharif, who was
ousted as prime minister in Musharraf's 1999 coup and is the leader of
the second-largest coalition party, said the process of impeachment
would start "in the next few days."
Musharraf loyalists
maintain the coalition would struggle to muster the needed two-thirds
majority, but Zardari expressed confidence they would succeed.
"We hope that 90 percent of the lawmakers will support us," Zardari said.
Tariq Azeem, a spokesman for the main pro-Musharraf opposition party, said it would oppose any impeachment of the president.
"We have backed him and voted for him so we are duty bound to support him ... We will oppose impeachment," he said.
He said there were more pressing issues facing the nation, including "runaway inflation" and sharp hikes in the price of food.
Azeem
said he did not think the ruling coalition had the numbers in
Parliament to impeach Musharraf, but conceded "things could go either
way."
Inflation in Pakistan is running at over 20 percent, and
the country suffers hours of power outages daily. Food prices have
soared. The current government is also struggling to contain violent
Islamic extremism.
The militancy is of particular concern to the U.S., which despite its longtime backing of Musharraf also has
expressed support for Pakistan's new civilian administration.
"As
we have consistently said, these are internal issues to be resolved by
the Pakistani people," U.S. embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said Thursday
of the impeachment plans. "And our expectation would be that this will
be resolved in a manner consistent with the rule of law and the
Pakistani constitution."
Musharraf cultivated close
relations with President George W. Bush and extended support to
Washington ranging from an airbase for use by U.S. military aircrafts,
to intelligence cooperation as well as the deployment of up to 150,000
Pakistani military troops along the Afghan border.
"If this
political storm passes relatively quickly and Pakistan is able to
demonstrate that there is a new president who supports the war on
terror, I think the US will remain relatively unconcerned over the long
term," a European ambassador in Islamabad told CBS News on condition of
anonymity. "The question however is if this will short and sweet."
Zardari also said the four provincial assemblies should demand Musharraf take a vote of confidence immediately.
Shortly
before the announcement, the Foreign Office said Prime Minister Yousaf
Raza Gilani would represent Pakistan at the opening ceremony of the
Beijing Olympics - rather than Musharraf as originally planned.
That immediately fueled speculation the president had canceled his trip because of the imminent moves to oust him.
The
ruling coalition has a comfortable majority in the National Assembly,
or lower house, but Musharraf's supporters retain about half the seats
in the Senate, or upper house.
Political analyst Rasul Bakhsh
Rais said, "There is a strong likelihood, but not certainty, that the
ruling coalition can impeach him."
Retired general Talat Masood said he did not think Musharraf could survive politically and that his
best option was to resign.
He
said the president could face a backlash if he tried to exercise his
constitutional power to dissolve Parliament in an effort to forestall
the impeachment bid. Masood said to exercise that power would require
the support of the army.
"The army would be crazy for doing
that. The army needs to improve its reputation and image with the
people of Pakistan," he said.
The coalition also agreed to
restore judges sacked by Musharraf when he declared a state of
emergency and rounded up thousands of opponents last November - just as
the Supreme Court was to rule on the legality of the October
presidential vote.
Thursday's decision could heal rifts in the coalition, which had been split over the judges issue and how to handle Musharraf.
The ruling party now expects Sharif's party to rejoin the federal Cabinet. It had pulled out in May because of the differences.
The
president, a stalwart U.S. ally, has in recent weeks made more public
appearances and comments - seen by some in Pakistan as an attempt to
show he remains a political force.
Zardari
claimed Musharraf had given a "clear commitment" to resign if his party
lost in the February elections and had failed to honor a pledge made by
his attorney to the Supreme Court to seek a vote of confidence from the
new Parliament.
Zardari also claimed Musharraf had "conspired" with the opposition party against Pakistan's democratic transition.
"The
coalition further decided that it will immediately initiate impeachment
proceedings. The coalition leadership will present a charge sheet
against Gen. Musharraf," Zardari told a news conference, alongside
leaders of the other coalition parties.
Nawaz Sharif, who was
ousted as prime minister in Musharraf's 1999 coup and is the leader of
the second-largest coalition party, said the process of impeachment
would start "in the next few days."
Musharraf loyalists
maintain the coalition would struggle to muster the needed two-thirds
majority, but Zardari expressed confidence they would succeed.
"We hope that 90 percent of the lawmakers will support us," Zardari said.
Tariq Azeem, a spokesman for the main pro-Musharraf opposition party, said it would oppose any impeachment of the president.
"We have backed him and voted for him so we are duty bound to support him ... We will oppose impeachment," he said.
He said there were more pressing issues facing the nation, including "runaway inflation" and sharp hikes in the price of food.
Azeem
said he did not think the ruling coalition had the numbers in
Parliament to impeach Musharraf, but conceded "things could go either
way."
Inflation in Pakistan is running at over 20 percent, and
the country suffers hours of power outages daily. Food prices have
soared. The current government is also struggling to contain violent
Islamic extremism.
The militancy is of particular concern to the U.S., which despite its longtime backing of Musharraf also has
expressed support for Pakistan's new civilian administration.
"As
we have consistently said, these are internal issues to be resolved by
the Pakistani people," U.S. embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said Thursday
of the impeachment plans. "And our expectation would be that this will
be resolved in a manner consistent with the rule of law and the
Pakistani constitution."
Musharraf cultivated close
relations with President George W. Bush and extended support to
Washington ranging from an airbase for use by U.S. military aircrafts,
to intelligence cooperation as well as the deployment of up to 150,000
Pakistani military troops along the Afghan border.
"If this
political storm passes relatively quickly and Pakistan is able to
demonstrate that there is a new president who supports the war on
terror, I think the US will remain relatively unconcerned over the long
term," a European ambassador in Islamabad told CBS News on condition of
anonymity. "The question however is if this will short and sweet."
Zardari also said the four provincial assemblies should demand Musharraf take a vote of confidence immediately.
Shortly
before the announcement, the Foreign Office said Prime Minister Yousaf
Raza Gilani would represent Pakistan at the opening ceremony of the
Beijing Olympics - rather than Musharraf as originally planned.
That immediately fueled speculation the president had canceled his trip because of the imminent moves to oust him.
The
ruling coalition has a comfortable majority in the National Assembly,
or lower house, but Musharraf's supporters retain about half the seats
in the Senate, or upper house.
Political analyst Rasul Bakhsh
Rais said, "There is a strong likelihood, but not certainty, that the
ruling coalition can impeach him."
Retired general Talat Masood said he did not think Musharraf could survive politically and that his
best option was to resign.
He
said the president could face a backlash if he tried to exercise his
constitutional power to dissolve Parliament in an effort to forestall
the impeachment bid. Masood said to exercise that power would require
the support of the army.
"The army would be crazy for doing
that. The army needs to improve its reputation and image with the
people of Pakistan," he said.
The coalition also agreed to
restore judges sacked by Musharraf when he declared a state of
emergency and rounded up thousands of opponents last November - just as
the Supreme Court was to rule on the legality of the October
presidential vote.
Thursday's decision could heal rifts in the coalition, which had been split over the judges issue and how to handle Musharraf.
The ruling party now expects Sharif's party to rejoin the federal Cabinet. It had pulled out in May because of the differences.
The
president, a stalwart U.S. ally, has in recent weeks made more public
appearances and comments - seen by some in Pakistan as an attempt to
show he remains a political force.
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