Musharraf ready to face impeachment charges

Dubai: President Pervez Musharraf is ready to face impeachment charges and defend himself in a bid to continue in his office as head of the state, Gulf News has learnt.

"President Musharraf is not scared of the impeachment process and has no plans to resign 'within days' as reported," a close aide of the president told Gulf News from Islamabad. He said the president is not going to "flee" the country nor seek asylum.

Meanwhile, the political activities for the impeachment of President Musharraf turned feverish on Sunday as the special committee of the ruling coalition finalised the chargesheet against the president.

Information Minister Sherry Rehman said the draft chargesheet has been finalised, which will be presented to the leaders of the ruling coalition meeting in Islamabad today.

She said the impeachment motion would be tabled during the National Assembly next week. She did not reveal any important points of the chargesheet. There is no precedent for impeaching a president in Pakistan's turbulent 61-year history.

Under the constitution, a president can be impeached for violating the constitution or "gross misconduct". Around 20 allegations including gross misconduct and violation of constitution have been levelled against the president in the chargesheet.

The issues of Musharraf's removal and the restoration of deposed supreme court judges have dominated Pakistani politics since the formation of the coalition government four-and-half months back.

Allies and rivals of the president confirmed that back-channel talks are under way to avoid an impeachment process that could further destabilise Pakistan.

Coalition government needs 295 votes out of total 440 members in National Assembly and the Senate.

Although it seems a close call, the numbers game in parliament could be chilling for Musharraf and his opponents.

The anti-Musharraf parties - including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and smaller partners have a total of 274 members - 235 in the 340-seat National Assembly and 39 in the 100-seat Senate, but they are far short of the required numbers.

There are 27 independent members and the pro-Musharraf PML(Q) has a strength of 130 votes, 87 in the National Assembly and 52 in the Senate. But they also include dissidents who may vote against Musharraf.

- With inputs from agencies

Procedure: Stage set

• Once finalised, the chargesheet against the president will be presented during the National Assembly.
• At least half of the National Assembly members need to sign a written notice of the intention to impeach the president.
• The speaker then has three days to send the notice to the president after which a joint sitting of the Senate and the National Assembly will be called.
• According to Pakistan's constitution, the joint sitting should be called "not earlier than seven days and not later than 14 days" after the president receives the notice.
• President will defend charges in the joint session.
• Voting will be held to impeach the president.