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Army may ask Musharraf to resign in a week

Pak parliament to start impeachment motion tomorrow

PTI, AFP, London/ Islamabad
The stage was set for the launch of impeachment proceedings against President Pervez Musharraf with the summoning of the National Assembly tomorrow even as he ruled out dissolving the House to overcome the crisis facing him.
In a new twist Pakistan' s Army is to ask the country's embattled President to relinquish office in a week's time as its top brass would not want him to be impeached, a news report said yesterday.
Quoting a senior official from the ruling government coalition
partner, the Pakistan's People's Party, 'The Daily Telegraph' said that Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Kiyani has already "whispered in Musharrafs ear that it is time to leave".
"Over the next few days they will make it clear to him (Musharraf) that a protracted battle (against impeachment) is not in Pakistan's interests," the unnamed official claimed.
One of the main arbiters of power in Pakistan, the Army has already publicly declared that the military would take a "neutral" stand on the country's domestic
politics.
"The Army is neutral but is expecting him to resign. It will then influence his honourable safe passage as the Army's senior leadership would not want him to be punished," a former military aide to the President told the British daily.
Pakistan's civilian government is likely to launch impeachment proceedings against 64-year-old Musharraf on Monday, accusing the President of "eroding" trust of the nation through his policies and actions. FROM PAGE 16
"We have good news for democracy. The coalition believes it is imperative to move for impeachment against Musharraf. We will present a chargesheet against Musharraf," PPP Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had said onThursday.
Ruling coalition leaders Asif Ali Zardari - the widower of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto --and Nawaz Sharif announced on Thursday that they would seek Musharraf’s impeachment for allegedly mismanaging the country.
"The national assembly session has been summoned at 5:00 pm (1100 GMT) for Monday," an assembly official told AFP
Pakistan People's Party spokesman Farhatullan Babar said the session would set into motion the process to impeach Musharraf.
"The session has been summoned in connection with impeachment of the president," Babar said.
He added "a notice for impeachment will be served on President Musharraf during the session, starting Monday".
Under the constitution, at least half of either the national assembly, the lower house of parliament, or the Senate, the upper house, must sign a written notice of the intention to impeach the president.
The speaker of either chamber then has three days to give it to the president.
Then the speaker must summon a joint sitting of the houses
"not earlier than seven days and not later than 14 days" after the president receives the notice.
The sitting would then "investigate or cause to be investigated" the charge sheet.
Impeachment requires a two-thirds majority in the upper and lower houses of parliament under Pakistan's constitution. It would be the first time in Pakistan's 61-year history that a president has been impeached.
The coalition is currently several seats short of the 295 votes it requires out of the 439 in the Senate and National Assembly to remove Musharraf.
Even the United States, which has provided dollars 12 billion in military' aid to the country in the last six years, has publicly declared itself to be neutral on Pakistan's domestic politics.
The senior official, who has top-level contacts with Washington, said that his party had instigated the impeachment because Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war on terror, had begun to use intelligence agencies to plot against government.
"Washington was still hoping that the PPP would work with Musharraf, but he was not working with us. America wants Pakistan to be effectively governed and so has realised that the domestic struggle has to be resolved, "he said.
However, he said that his party had given an assurance of "indemnity" to the President.