Word: musharraf
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Among those who voted against the President were those he had long counted among his allies. Musharraf's former Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao switched sides at the last minute after deciding to "support the country's democracy." Said Sherpao: "[Musharraf] is going to fight these charges on a moral ground to try to disprove them. But when it comes to the numbers, I think he's lost it." The coalition now boasts numbers surpassing the two-thirds required for impeachment...
While the provincial votes have no legal implications, they have fortified the pressure on Musharraf to step down immediately and avoid a tortuous and potentially humiliating impeachment process. Over recent days, the atmosphere in Islamabad has grown feverish as discreet talks have gotten under way between various parties, lawyers, foreign diplomats and the army. A flurry of reports have appeared, claiming that Musharraf has agreed to resign but only if he can secure a "safe passage" - an agreement that would grant him immunity against prosecution...
...allies who remain close to Musharraf emerged from a meeting at the President's Lodge yesterday to rebuff suggestions that he was poised to step down. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the president of the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q, said Musharraf was prepared to face his accusers and had enlisted the support of leading lawyers to represent him in the impeachment proceedings. Indeed, in a rare televised address on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of Pakistan's independence, Musharraf betrayed no intent to resign. Instead he urged a return to "political stability" through an approach of "reconciliation, not confrontation...
...Musharraf has appointed Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, one of Pakistan's leading lawyers and a former politician, as his lead counsel. In an interview, Pirzada said he was preparing a "robust defense" while Musharraf weighed his options. Said Pirzada: "They don't know what they are getting into. They have pushed him into a corner. Maybe before, he might have thought about stepping down, but not now." He added that Musharraf feels he needs to respond to the allegations leveled against him and that he still has something to offer Pakistan by remaining its President. "I think he feels that...
...move to oust Musharraf comes at a difficult time for Pakistanis. The economy is approaching a meltdown, with inflation at 25% and the rupee falling to a record low against the dollar. There is also concern that the longer the controversy over Musharraf's fate goes on, the greater distraction it will prove from the challenges of Islamist militancy. That threat was underscored 10 days ago when fighting broke out in the Bajaur tribal agency along the Afghan border. Pakistani military jets and helicopter gunships have been targeting an estimated 3,000 armed militants in the area. More that...