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| Stage set for Pak Prez's impeachment | | | Islamabad | Aug 11
Ahead of a crucial Parliament session, Pakistan's ruling coalition Monday said it has drawn up an "unimpeachable" chargesheet against President Pervez Musharraf, who has refused to resign despite mounting pressure to do so.
The National Assembly, or lower house of Parliament, was due to convene later Monday - also Musharraf's 65th birthday. Officials said the charges against the President are likely be filed later in the week.
People's Party (PPP) spokesman Farhatullah Babar, a member of the committee that is drafting the chargesheet, said the panel had made "significant progress" in listing the charges against Musharraf, including those of misconduct and violation of the Constitution.
"It will be an unimpeachable document supported by documentary evidence of all the acts of omission and commission committed by Musharraf that make him liable to impeachment several times," Babar said.
Several leaders of the PPP and its ally PML-N had earlier also said the chargesheet would include charges of misconduct and violation of the Constitution.
PPP Chairman Asif Ali Zardari's allegation against Musharraf that he "misappropriated" some $700 million of US aid could also be part of the chargesheet.
Babar said the coalition had uncovered evidence of "horrendous" crimes allegedly committed during the beleaguered President's rule. He did not elaborate.
"We are in the government now and have access to many previously confidential documents. After going through these documents, we are surprised over the horrendous nature of the crimes committed by President Musharraf during his almost nine-year rule," he said without commenting on reports that the charges included corruption and murder.
'Safe exit'
The PPP-led coalition announced on Thursday that it would launch impeachment proceedings against Musharraf, posing the biggest challenge to him since he grabbed power in a military coup in 1999.
The coalition appears to be trying to give Musharraf time to quit without facing the humiliation to be the country's first president to be impeached.
Several members of the opposition PML-Q, which is aligned with Musharraf, have also urged him to step down and some have even said they would vote in favour of an impeachment motion.
At least 10 PML-Q parliamentarians have appealed to Zardari to give a "safe exit" to Musharraf if he resigns.
PML-Q member Nasrullah Bajrani told Aaj TV that he was part of a group of 10 party lawmakers who believed that Musharraf should resign and Zardari should postpone the impeachment motion.
Sardar Bahadar Ahmed Khan Seehar, another PML-Q parliamentarian, told the state-run PTV that over 20 party lawmakers were set to vote in favour of the impeachment motion.
Meanwhile, an aide of Musharraf indicated that the President would not resign, despite mounting calls that he step aside and make an honourable exit.
"People who are saying President Musharraf will resign - they are either lying or they simply don't know his nature," former minister Rashid Qureshi said.
"President Musharraf is a man of character and no one can point a finger at him. He has a clean track record," he said while declining to say what course of action Musharraf would take. |
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